Brazil’s Election and History of Corruption

On October 30, 2022, former Brazilian right-wing president, Jair Bolsonaro, was voted out of office in favor of the leftist Lula da Silva. Silva, who was seeking a third term of presidency, defeated Bolsonaro in a narrow victory, winning 50.9% of the popular vote in the second round, while Bolsonaro earned 49.1%, losing by just 0.1% of the vote. 

This election proved to be very important for Brazil and Latin America, especially due to Brazil’s struggles during the Covid-19 Pandemic and environmental concerns. After Bolsonaro removed protections placed on the Amazon Rainforest, deforestation of the Amazon accelerated. An average of 6,500 square kilometers of the Rainforest deforested from 2012 to 2018 rose to as high as 13,000 square kilometers per year. His poor response to the Covid-19 pandemic caused Brazil to cultivate the second-highest Covid-19 death toll in the world after he downplayed the severity of the virus, referring to it as a “little flu,” and discouraged the vaccination, promoting the unproven substance Chloroquine: a medication often used to prevent and treat malaria.

Corruption scandals have controlled the political climate of Brazil over the past decade, and the most recent election has shown how catalyzing this issue continues to be in Brazilian politics today. Both candidates' images are marred by corruption scandals. In 2014, the Petrobras scandal surfaced, in which multiple people appointed by the Workers Party were arrested and charged for crimes including money laundering and corruption. Da Silva was seen as the central part of the scandal due to his power in the Workers Party. In 2018, Lula da Silva was imprisoned for corruption and money laundering after he was paid 3.7 million reals from a construction company through bribes, and furthermore helping the company obtain contracts from the state-controlled oil company Petrobras. He repeatedly pleaded innocent to these charges, claiming that the case against him was politically motivated and that prosecutors were trying to keep him out of politics. Although he was to serve a 12-year sentence, da Silva only remained for 580 days when the Supreme Court annulled his charges. 

Bolsonaro’s failure in handling the pandemic also bred many accusations of corruption and speculations of impeachment. In a 2021 corruption inquiry, the Brazilian senate accused Bolsonaro of sabotaging Covid isolation measures, threatening Brazilian governors and mayors who enacted restrictive measures, and refusing to encourage or wear masks. Bolsonaro was also under fire for the “vaccine-gate” scandal, in which a vaccine contract between Brazil’s Health Ministry and Bharat Biotech, the Indian pharmaceutical company producing a Covid vaccine called Covaxin, was irregular. Because the vaccine hadn’t been approved by regulators or finished clinical trials at the time, and the cost of the 20 million vaccine doses Brazil would receive, the contract was questioned. In addition to this, speculations of bribery surfaced after the contract included a $45 million payout to Singapore, the intermediary of the contract. This ordeal resulted in the Brazilian public becoming upset and support for Bolsonaro waning even further.

Brazil’s polarizing political climate brought mixed reactions to Lula’s victory. Initially, Bolsonaro himself contested the results of the election, but remained almost completely silent after losing the election on On October 30th. Da Silva accepted the results, saying; “I will govern for 215 million Brazilians, and not just those who voted for me.” Hoping to bring people together despite the polarization, he told Brazil; “There are not two Brazils. We are one country, one people, one great nation.” 

Brazil’s aims and goals for the future are clear. Still recovering from the effects of their recession that began back in 2014, and the Covid-19 pandemic, Brazil is hoping to make economic growth, combat inflation, their extreme violent crime rates, education crisis, and corruption in government offices. Lula and his Worker’s Party hope to increase the protections on the Amazon, and uplift the poor by increasing the minimum wage, expanding social housing, and other methods. With expectations high for Brazil’s future, Brazil, Latin America, and the rest of the world are looking towards Lula da Silva to bring the change they hope will steer Brazil in the right direction.