The most important election in the world this year

Written By: - Date published: 8:40 am, October 31st, 2022 - 25 comments
Categories: climate change, Donald Trump, International, science - Tags:

The people of Brazil go to the polls today to vote on who will be their next President.

Current President Jair Bolsonaro is facing a significant challenge from the left’s Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva who is the slight favourite according to polls.

But they under reported Bolsonaro’s support last time.

The cause for the nervousness is that Bolsonaro is a Trumpian wanna be who refuses to accept the science on things such as viral transmissions.

His biggest crime however is to oversee the destruction of the Amazon rain forest, one of the lungs of the planet.  The destruction has been that pronounced that there have been recent estimates that the Amazon rain forest emits more carbon dioxide than it captures.

The causes are partially greed with parts of the forest being burned off for cattle and soy farms.  But hotter temperatures and droughts are also part of the process.

If we do not want to get caught into a self reinforcing cycle of increased CO2 emission then urgent action will be needed.  Bolsonaro clearly cannot and will not do anything about it.  His Foreign Minister Ernesto Araujo once said that unfounded alarm over global climate change was threatening Brazilian sovereignty and that there was no climate change catastrophe.

By contrast Lula plans to grant protected status to half a million square km (193,000 sq miles) of the Amazon rainforest, fight deforestation, subsidize sustainable farming and tweak tax laws to bring in a green economy.

Bolsonaro has, like Trump, not promised to accept the result of the election. And there are already claims of electoral fraud to pave the way.

Today could be very interesting.

25 comments on “The most important election in the world this year ”

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  1. Ad 1
    31 October 2022 at 10:03 am

    Lula isn't covered in white snow as per the Car Wash cartel scandal out of Petrobras that took down his anointed successor.

    But Bolsonaro should go down in infamy.

    Should Lula return he will need to deliver even faster than his poverty reduction moves last time. Bolsonaros military relations remain strong and he won't be afraid to use that.

    • Patricia Bremner 1.1
      31 October 2022 at 3:09 pm

      Yes, a 2% win to the Left is not decisive, or easily protected.

      • Tiger Mountain 1.1.1
        1 November 2022 at 7:28 am

        Yes, waiting for the Army to pull the pin on Lula, likely a case of when not if.

        While decisive votes are usually best, Democracy is 50% plus one as far as I am concerned, but that is not the reality these days as the last US Election showed. Gerrymandering, voter suppression and defeated party not accepting legitimate results.

        Split societies all around the world at the moment.

  2. AB 2
    31 October 2022 at 10:17 am

    As with the Republican Party, accusations of electoral fraud care likely to be projections. Accusing your opponent of what you are doing yourself – thus purifying your own crimes and turning them into a form of righteous vengeance.

  3. Anne 3
    31 October 2022 at 10:22 am

    Those photos say it all.

    The one on the left is a primeval throwback… devoid of a single fully functional brain cell. The dead eyes are the biggest give away.

    The fellow on the right may have a few skeletons in his cupboard but at least he has a fully functional brain. His eyes indicate someone who is intelligent and alert.

  4. weka 4
    31 October 2022 at 10:24 am

    micky, there was no FP image, so I grabbed one off google as I bumped the post up. Wasn't sure if you wanted the politician image instead….

  6. Stuart Munro 6
    31 October 2022 at 11:15 am

    Although the rain forest is not insignificant, marine algae is much more salient to global oxygen production. And, having laid waste to our own forests, and failed to establish a commensurate reafforestation program, we are hardly in a position to cavil. Bolsonaro, though, has little to recommend him.

    • weka 6.1
      31 October 2022 at 11:24 am

      hardly think this is cavilling irrespective of the hypocrisy. The Amazon fails and we're in much deeper shit than we are now.

      It's not either or. It's the oceans and the forests and all of it.

  8. roy cartland 8
    31 October 2022 at 12:07 pm

    Lula win confirmed by Supreme Electoral Court

    And now it’s official. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is the new president of Brazil. His victory has been confirmed with the Supreme Electoral Court. With 98.86 % of the votes counted Lula has 50.83 % and Bolsonaro has 49.17%.

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2022/oct/31/brazil-election-live-lula-faces-bolsonaro-in-second-round-amid-fears-of-voter-suppression

    He's won the throne; now comes the hard part of keeping it.

    • Bearded Git 8.1
      31 October 2022 at 2:16 pm

      Lula has won by 1.8 ….too much to challenge.

      But I read that some of Bolsonaros worst acolytes got elected to the Brazilian parliament when the first vote took place so not a great result really. (Sorry no link….too hard in busy cafe on my phone)

    • Mike the Lefty 8.2
      31 October 2022 at 3:52 pm

      Great news, but I wonder whether it has come too late.

      The Amazon jungle is being wiped out and there will doubtless be a Brazilian version of Groundswell who want the destructive old ways of farming to continue.

      • Ad 8.2.1
        31 October 2022 at 4:12 pm

        Brazil is not the country from when he started in politics 20 years ago.

        Salgado's remaining trackless tropics are in Suriname and French Guiyana.

        And Lula has a far more conservative Senate to deal with than last time.

        He will quickly moderate towards the centre as have all the other lefties in 2022 elections.

        • arkie 8.2.1.1
          31 October 2022 at 4:35 pm

          Lula was among those who founded the Brazilian Workers Party in 1980. He’s been involved in labour unions before that. He was imprisoned for it in the late 1970s by the military dictatorship.

          He has seen how Brazil is capable of change up close and personal, being that he helped to bring it about.

          • Ad 8.2.1.1.1
            31 October 2022 at 5:41 pm

            You are only pointing out that he's used to working with leftie majorities in government.

            That's not what he has now.

            Granted he has a delivery track record. But this could also be a lame duck Presidency.

            • arkie 8.2.1.1.1.1
              31 October 2022 at 6:12 pm

              I was specifically pointing out that he started in politics a lot earlier than 20 years ago.

              He has extensive experience of labour organising and campaigning in extremely hostile political environments (beginning in the mid 60s when he was 19). You say that he’s only used to working with leftie majorities, a simple look at history and his biography undermines this claim.

  9. Ad 9
    1 November 2022 at 2:26 pm

    I often enjoy Beau's column and this one talks about the lessons learned on how to overcome the hard right populists even in their really strong form.

    (338) Let's talk about Bolsonaro's loss and what it can teach us…. – YouTube

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