Conservatism grows in Brazil despite leftist Lula's win: WSJ
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The Wall Street Journal publishes an article in which it highlights the growing conservatism, owing it to the country's prosperous farming belt, in which work supporters of Bolsonaro.
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Brazil's former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, left, faces Jair Bolsonaro in a presidential debate at Bandeirantes Television in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Sunday, Oct. 16, 2022 (AP)
The Wall Street Journal published an article in which it explained that the growth of conservatism in Brazil "is largely owing to Brazil’s evermore powerful and prosperous farming belt, where Chinese demand for commodities in recent years has enriched towns in Brazil’s central savannah and fortified conservative states economically and politically."
To explain further, the newspaper said that agriculture is prosperous and is the reason why the economy was advancing in Brazil, and workers in this field are supporters of Bolsonaro, and they are currently protesting leftist politician Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva‘s election win.
"While Mr. Bolsonaro ultimately failed to defeat Mr. da Silva, who is widely popular among poor families, the ex-army captain still notched 58.2 million votes in Brazil’s closest presidential race in history—almost half a million more than in the 2018 elections that won him the presidency," the WSJ added.
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"Dozens of Mr. Bolsonaro’s conservative allies also won legislative elections in October. Come Jan. 1, about 65% of senators who will take office will either be allied to Mr. Bolsonaro or not in opposition to him," the newspaper wrote, adding that in the lower house of Congress, "36% of federal deputies who will take office have expressed support for Mr. Bolsonaro, while only 24% have backed Mr. da Silva."
"The lower house has a strengthened rightwing…and a weakening of Brazil’s most traditional political parties," Congress in Focus said in the analysis.
The newspaper noted that "among the top 50 financiers of Mr. Bolsonaro’s election campaign last month, about two-thirds made their money in agribusiness," giving the example of Hugo Ribeiro, a billionaire whose family-owned Amaggi soybean exporter is one of the biggest in the country. Ribeiro donated over a quarter-million dollars to Bolsonaro and his allies.
Following the presidential victory of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva over his opponent Jair Bolsonaro, the Sao Paulo stock exchange (B3) witnessed a volatile yet overall increasing session. However, the signs that the economy was already bettering with Lula's win were not enough to curb the right wing.
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The Bovespa Index, a benchmark index of around 92 stocks traded on the B3, recovered from an opening retreat to gain around 2% before settling to 0.3% during early afternoon trade, while the Brazilian real soared against the dollar, marking a 2.2% gain.
The former leftist President, whose term lasted from 2003-2010, urged "peace and unity" after defeating far-right Bolsonaro, concluding a historic political comeback.
The victory represented a stunning turnaround for the leftist icon, who returned for an unprecedented third term at 77 after leaving office in 2010 as the most popular President in Brazilian history.
