A fool for Bolsonaro, a problem for the left …

From Rio de Janeiro.

At the beginning of Sunday evening, the results of the second round for the election of mayors in 57 Brazilian municipalities, between provincial capitals and cities with more than 200,000 voters, were known. There were no significant surprises among the winners, but what caught the attention of observers and analysts, as well as party leaders, was the difference in voice between elected and vanquished, which in almost every case exceeded what opinion polls had predicted. Two days before. It was also confirmed, with one isolated and isolated exception, that the candidates championed by far-right President Jair Bolsonaro performed rather poorly at the polls.

This data reinforces the isolation of the president, whose negative image has grown exponentially in some of the country’s most important capitals, particularly in São Paulo and Salvador de Bahía. Another aspect that drew attention was the emergence of at least two young leaders who, in these elections, saw their images stretch far beyond the limits of their respective cities or provinces, to enter on the national scene.

A third piece of information refers to the unprecedented volume of abstentions and absenteeism across the country, which in Rio de Janeiro reached 36% of the electorate. With that, if the total number of voters eligible to vote is taken into account, 1,614,343 chose to abstain, a volume of votes that calmly exceeds the total of those who chose former right-wing mayor Eduardo Paes, who reached 1,525,903 valid votes. (that is, except for null, blank and abstentions).

Already, the current mayor, Marcelo Crivella, self-proclaimed bishop of one of the evangelical sects dedicated to raising funds by exploiting the faith of others, had 847,002 votes. Among the valid votes, nearly 36%, well above what the polls indicated which gave him less than thirty on average. On time: Crivella had the backing of Jair Bolsonaro who, according to forecasts, suffered two spectacular defeats in São Paulo (his candidate did not even go to the second round) and Rio, the two main cities of the country .

The same absenteeism was felt everywhere, but the argument that they tried to guard against the dangers of the second wave of the coronavirus (denied, despite its evidence, both by Bolsonaro and by his government) falls to the ground when It is observed how the beaches of Rio and the parks of all Brazilian cities were filled with crowds in search of the pleasures of a sunny Sunday.

As for the two new characters who have managed to broadcast their images throughout the country, it is Guilherme Boulos, who in São Paulo (city where the abstention index has also exceeded the house by 33 points) lost to the current mayor, the right winger Bruno Covas and Manuela D’Ávila, who reached the second round and lost the office of the mayor of Porto Alegre to the benefit of the right winger also Sebastião Melo. The two didn’t win a town hall, but they did win a national screening.

Boulos fought for the PSOL, born of an internal divergence of the PT, and Manuela for the Communist Party of Brazil. The two groups have very little weight in São Paulo and Porto Alegre, let alone the rest of the country. The rise of both, but especially Boulos, makes clear the prospect of opening a revival in progressive currents in Brazil.

In comparative terms, in the same way that Lula is a figure whose projection exceeds that of his party, the PT (even considering that it is the largest left-wing group in the entire Latin American continent), Boulos and Manuela far exceed the weight of their respective acronyms.

There are several aspects to consider in relation to the progressive camp under the relentless turbulence caused by the mismanagement of Bolsonaro and his government so inert in the face of the very serious problems facing Brazil as absolutely devastating.

Since the incarceration of Lula da Silva after a trial plagued by manipulations and irregularities ordered by former judge Sergio Moro (who was then “compensated” by Bolsonaro with the post of Minister of Justice, until be defenestrated), the Brazilian left seems to have lost my way. Lula was barred from running in the 2018 presidential elections, and after regaining his freedom, he did not assume, as his supporters expected, the natural leadership of the opposition.

The lack of concrete proposals and effective actions to form a broad left and center-left front has had overwhelming effects. A good example of this situation is to verify that for the first time since re-democratization, i.e. in the last 35 years, the PT failed to elect a single mayor of the provincial capital. from Brazil. The right and center-right, meanwhile, have vehemently tried to reject the imbalance and radicalism of Bolsonaro and his most loyal and fanatic supporters, posing as a moderating factor in a country perplexed by growth. rampant extremism.

Now to see what will happen in the troubled political scene after an election in which the left lost, but much more lost the far right embodied by President Bolsonaro.