Name? Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
Westphalian identity? Brazilian
Age? 75
Why is he in the news? The former president of Brazil could be set for a comeback in next year’s presidential election as a supreme court judge tossed out several criminal cases against Lula, restoring his right to seek presidency again.
Why do we care? Because we are finally writing about Latin America! Not that Brazil represents the entirety of the continent but it does make up a pretty big part…and thus, its state of affairs impacts regional stability.
Why should you care? Yesterday’s ruling marks a turning point in Brazilian politics as it highlights the growing sentiment that Bolsonaro must go after he stood by while more than 265000 Brazilians lost their lives to Covid19. For those of you critical of Bolsonaro and his poor policies regarding the health or environmental crisis, you should care 8/10 as Lula presents a strong opponent to the current president in next year’s election.
Who else cares? Alberto Fernandez–President of Argentina. As a leftist-president himself, Fernandez celebrated that “Justice has been done!” with the overturning of cases against Lula; paving the way for yet another Latin American nation to be governed by leaders of the Foro de Sao Paulo…in a case like us, you don’t know a lot about the region, the Foro de Sao Paulo is a conference of leftist political parties, politicians, and other organizations in Latin America that was actually started by Lula’s party…
Any further comments? While a showdown between Lula and Bolsonaro would be interesting to watch, it would ultimately present an incredibly polarized election. As a result, less-extreme Brazilians who would prefer neither candidate could soon be left out before the election even starts. To put it in simple, American terms, Brazil is seeing a showdown between its own Sanders and Trump with no Biden’s in sight. We guess Sleepy Joe isn’t so bad after all…
