What Lula’s Brazil Win Means For India & The World; Bolsonaro Loses, But Far-Right Here To Stay

NEW DELHI: On ‘The Gist’, in São Paulo, Professor Guilherme Casarões, a Political Scientist, Professor at the prestigious Fundação Getulio Vargas School of Business Administration (FGV EAESP), Foreign Policy & Far-Right movement analyst and Coordinator, Observatório da Extrema Direita (Extreme Right Observatory, Brazil) in conversation with StratNews Global Associate Editor Amitabh P. Revi.

Professor Casarões explains the comeback from prison over corruption charges of two-time President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, leader of the leftist Workers Party (PT). Lula, as he is popularly known, defeated Jair Bolsonaro, an incumbent President for the first time in Brazil’s history—50.9% to 49.1% in a second round runoff. The far-right President Bolsonaro has not conceded defeat in his first public statement since losing, saying protests by his supporters were the fruit of “indignation and a sense of injustice” over the vote. However, unlike his model Donald Trump, so far, he has stopped short of contesting the result and has authorised the beginning of a two-month transition. Professor Casarões discusses the deeply polarised country, how Lula will try to rebuild his legacy, what the results mean for Brazil’s foreign policy—in South America, with the U.S, China, and what it could mean for Brazil-India relations.