The Party of the European Left on the Brazilian elections

On October 7th, Brazil goes to the polls, 186 days after the imprisonment of former president Lula da Silva. The elections are for for President, Vice-President and National Congress and are crucial not only for the country itself but also for the region and the whole world. In a time of advance of the neoliberal offensive on the Latin American continent (which includes the figure of the far-right presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro) and globally, the leftist, progressive and popular forces of Brazil are recovering from the attack that the judicialization of politics has implied. This has taken place through the impeachment of the legitimate President Dilma Roussef and the most recent imprisonment of Lula da Silva, presidential candidate, and the overall favorite in all the electoral polls.

The Party of the European Left is convinced that a victory of the candidates of the left in Brazil – together with the recent victory of Lopez Obrador in Mexico – will contribute to the stabilization of Latin America, nowadays highly threatened by brutal neo-liberal policies and the growing militarization of the region. The victory of the left could also promote multilateralism and give a decisive impulse to regional integration and structures of cooperation. The Party of the European Left reiterates its support for the left candidates: Fernando Haddad (Workers’ Party) for the presidency, and Manuela D’Ávila (Communist Party of Brazil) for the vice-presidency. The European Left continues to demand the freedom of Lula da Silva.