Brazil on the Verge of Electoral Explosion
As the second round of Brazil’s presidential election takes place this weekend, Sunday is set to be the most important day in Latin American politics in 2022. The race between Brazil’s far-right President Bolsonaro and his leftist rival Lula da Silva, who served two terms as president, has become extremely close and tense.
While in the first round of the election, it was believed and polls indicated that Lula would win by surpassing fifty percent of the votes, the election went to a second round, and Bolsonaro, echoing the Trump phenomenon of 2020, received more votes than all estimates.
Now, the polls, which Bolsonaro’s supporters and he himself cast doubt upon, all indicate an extremely close margin between the two sides. Lula’s greatest lead over Bolsonaro is no more than two or three percent. This means that the former president, even if he wins in a very tight race, will succeed, and the serious danger of this outcome is that it sets the stage for an electoral coup by Bolsonaro.
Bolsonaro, who is a friend and ally of Donald Trump, has repeatedly cast doubt on Brazil’s electoral system and spoken about not accepting the results. He even said in one of his speeches that he would either be arrested, die, or win.
