The World Needs More Lulas!

On October 25^th one of my long-time heroes, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (Lula), President of Brazil, won a historic election victory.

I touched briefly on his win in last week’s blog. This week, let me elaborate on Lula’s incredible come from behind triumph over his neo-fascist opponent Flávio Bolsonaro. There are so many lessons to be learned from it by progressive citizens all around the world, including here in BC where the NDP certainly would have won the provincial election on October 24^th if it had embraced Lula’s approach to governing and campaigning.

To put these lessons in context, here is some brief background.

Lula came in second to Bolsonaro in the first round of the presidential election on October 4^th. He obtained 53.8 million votes (41%), behind Bolsonaro’s 56.1 million (47%) total. As per Brazil’s election rules, which mandate that the winning candidate must receive over 50% of the votes cast, there was a runoff election three weeks later.

I was very depressed by the October 4^th results, as never before in the history of Brazilian elections had a candidate who came in second in the first round of voting been victorious in the second round.

I was then delighted when Lula exceeded all expectations, winning the runoff by 4.4 million votes ahead of Bolsonaro – 64.3 million (51.79%) to 59.8 million (48.21%).

One of my favourite YouTube channels, The Rational National, has a great overview of Lula’s very inspiring success.

Here are just two of the many takeaways from Lula’s historic victory.

Lesson Number One: Never give up.

Immediately after the first round of voting, the Lula camp – particularly young Brazilians — rolled up their sleeves and set to work. On the night after the election, students took to the streets to protest the expected return of a Bolsonaro to government. Over the next days, more student protests followed throughout the country.

At the same time, congressman André Janones, a Lula ally, created a WhatsApp channel called “Lula’s Army” to mobilize supporters, including providing instructions on how to make Lula content that would attract others. By the time of the runoff election, the site had over 10 million followers. Voter turnout soared and Lula’s support grew from 53.9 million to 64.2 million Brazilians.

Lesson Number Two: Campaign on your previous achievements while in government.

Lula had an incredibly inspiring track record to run on.

• He secured a constitutional amendment that reduced the maximum workweek from 44 to 40 hours, including mandating two days off per week for workers who had previously worked six days per week.
• He implemented effective and ongoing tax reform, including cutting taxes for the middle class. His economic policies and reforms produced Brazil’s highest GDP growth in over a decade, lower inflation, record-low unemployment, and a decline in income inequality.
• To counter food insecurity, he set up a national network of food banks, increased the budget allocated to school meals, and increased the purchase of food from family farms to supply public canteens.
• During Lula’s last term, which began in 2023, his policies produced an astonishing 71% reduction in deforestation of the Amazon region, almost 42% in the past year alone. Bolsonaro had plans which would have further destroyed enormous swaths of the area. Environmentalists and climate scientists around the world are thankfully celebrating Lula’s victory and the rescue of the Amazon.

This will undoubtedly be Lula’s last term in office. He was previously elected to two terms in 2002 and 2006. The Brazilian constitution prohibits a person from running for office after serving two successive terms, and this will be his second term in a row this time. He is already 81 years old, meaning he would be 89 before being eligible to run again.

His example clearly illustrates the importance of governing with inspiration and a commitment to making a real difference in peoples’ lives. The recent loss here by the BC NDP in their inadvisedly called election shows what happens when governments ignore this example.

A Lula-like individual must replace David Eby as the leader of the BCNDP. Only such a leader, committed to an inspiring platform, will be able to defeat the provincial Conservatives in the next election.

The world needs more Lulas. His victory is not just a victory for the citizens of Brazil. It is a victory for Latin America. It is a victory for progressives around the world. It is a victory for planet earth as the Amazon will now be saved.

We must all celebrate Lula’s inspiring victory.

 

Daily atmospheric CO₂ [Courtesy of CO2.Earth]

Latest daily total (November 04, 2026): 428.95ppm

One year ago (November 01, 2025): 425.68ppm