Lula’s victory last Sunday (30) made an important part of the center-left Spanish government vibrate.
After the recent rise of the ultra-rightist Giorgia Meloni in neighboring Italy in October, the Spanish governing parties, including PSOE (from Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and Vice-President and Minister of Labor Yolanda Díaz) and Unidas Podemos, celebrated the results of the Brazilian elections with Official phone calls and support tweets:
The support of members of the Spanish government for Lula had already been declared since the results of the first round, which caused some discomfort inside the Moncloa Palace, especially on the part of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, also from the Obrero Socialist Party. [Trabalhista] Spanish (PSOE).
For Albares, it would be the function of his ministry to establish the tone of official communication, without premature celebrations, in order to preserve the integrity of the international alliance in strategic economic sectors, for example.
Shortly after the release of the results of the first round, Díaz celebrated in a tweet that “a diverse and dialoguing Brazil is the majority. A Brazil that, now, begins to look forward to the future with hope.” “O [dia] October 30th will pave the way for #BrasildaEsperança”:
A week before the second round, the prime minister also recorded a message of support for Lula, which would yield a response of thanks from Lula himself:
DIVIDED SUPPORT
On the other hand, the leaders of the far-right Spanish party Vox, supporters of Bolsonaro, lamented last Monday (01) the victory of the Workers’ Party in Brazil.
“It is bad news for Brazil, for South America, for the ‘Iberosphere’ and for the defense of freedom, prosperity, the right to property and all the fundamental issues that are at stake”, enumerated the vice president of the party, Jorge Buxadé, in a press conference, emulating a speech very close to that of the current Brazilian president.
But he minimized the impact of the defeat and celebrated what he called Bolsonaro’s “extraordinary result” at the polls: “it shows that we, Vox, are on the right path, in the fair and necessary fight”.
Asked whether the victory of the left in Brazil could negatively impact the strengthening of his party in Spain, Buxadé compared the situation to Trump’s defeat, and assured that the victory of the right in other countries showed that the “conservative movement” continues to be “very potent” everywhere.
In addition to Italy, the recent legislative elections in Sweden in September also expanded the dominance of the right, which outnumbered the center-left bloc by 3 seats (176 to 173).
There, as in other parts of Europe, one of the flags most raised by the extreme right is aimed at immigrants, associating them, for example, with a general increase in delinquency.
CENTRIST FUTURE
In a podcast presented by Spanish political scientist Pablo Iglesias, a former member of the current government and the Podemos party, analysts comment on the results of the elections in Brazil.
They foresee a center-left administration headed by Lula, which could positively favor the integration of different social sectors in a new scenario.
On the one hand, regarding the strength of the right, Iglesias comments that “Bolsonaro is more of a catalyst than a demiurge; one can imagine a Bolsonarism beyond Bolsonaro”, which would follow after the end of the current government as a challenge to the next administration. .
On the other hand, Lula’s victory would signal a welcome “turn to the left” of Latin America, with integrative and cross-border impacts, since Brazil is a “global player” and therefore “it is evident that this is an event of world importance”.
Gonzalo Winter, an Argentine journalist participating in the debate, mentions the centrist orientation of the new government, with which, he says, coalitions that also include liberal sectors rise to power.
“In Lula’s alliance is Guilherme Boulos, who proposes agrarian reform, and there is also João Amoêdo, representative of Faria Lima, the avenue of banks”, he exemplifies.
“Against those who preach hatred and climate denialism, against those who want a Brazil isolated and closed in on itself, it is time to open the door to hope”, ends Spanish Prime Minister Sánchez in his video in support of Lula. “Brazil deserves this horizon. Its triumph will be that of progressives around the world, and also of us Spaniards.”
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