Lula da Silva Elected President in Brazil
2022-11-01
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1In Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has defeated President Jair Bolsonaro in a close election.
2Da Silva received 50.9 percent of the vote while Bolsonaro received 49.1 percent, according to the country's election officials.
3By Monday morning, Bolsonaro had still not admitted to losing.
4The delay brings worries that he will dispute the election result.
5Before the vote, Bolsonaro had repeatedly said the election system might be unfair and permit cheating.
6He did not give any evidence to support his statements.
7International election observers said Sunday's election was fair. U.S. President Joe Biden congratulated da Silva on his victory.
8He said Brazil had "free, fair, and credible elections."
9The victory is a huge comeback for the 77-year-old da Silva.
10He was Brazil's president for two terms from 2003 to 2010 and was very popular when he left office.
11But after his presidency, he spent 580 days in jail on corruption charges.
12His convictions were later canceled by Brazil's top court, which ruled his trial had been unfair.
13Brazil is closely divided politically between conservatives who support Bolsonaro and liberals who support da Silva.
14Thomas Traumann is an independent political expert in Brazil.
15He compared Sunday's results to Biden's victory in 2020.
16"The huge challenge that Lula has will be to pacify the country," Traumann said.
17"People are not only polarized on political matters, but also have different values, identity and opinions.
18"What's more," he added, "they don't care what the other side's values, identities and opinions are."
19Da Silva has said he wants to work with centrists and even people who have some conservative views.
20In April, he named center-right Geraldo Alckmin, a former opponent, to be his running mate.
21Bolsonaro's conservative administration has been criticized for bad management of the COVID-19 pandemic and for permitting the worst deforestation in the Amazon in 15 years.
22Bolsonaro said that da Silva's victory would bring communism, legalized drugs, abortion and bad treatment of religious organizations.
23These things did not happen during da Silva's earlier eight years in office.
24Da Silva said he will increase spending on the poor and take strong action to stop illegal clear-cutting in the Amazon rainforest.
25"We will once again monitor and do surveillance in the Amazon. We will fight every illegal activity," da Silva said in his speech.
26"At the same time, we will promote sustainable development of communities in the Amazon."
27Da Silva's win joins recent liberal victories across South America, including in Chile, Colombia and Argentina.
28I'm Andrew Smith.
1In Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has defeated President Jair Bolsonaro in a close election. Da Silva received 50.9 percent of the vote while Bolsonaro received 49.1 percent, according to the country's election officials. 2By Monday morning, Bolsonaro had still not admitted to losing. The delay brings worries that he will dispute the election result. 3Before the vote, Bolsonaro had repeatedly said the election system might be unfair and permit cheating. He did not give any evidence to support his statements. 4International election observers said Sunday's election was fair. U.S. President Joe Biden congratulated da Silva on his victory. He said Brazil had "free, fair, and credible elections." 5The victory is a huge comeback for the 77-year-old da Silva. He was Brazil's president for two terms from 2003 to 2010 and was very popular when he left office. But after his presidency, he spent 580 days in jail on corruption charges. His convictions were later canceled by Brazil's top court, which ruled his trial had been unfair. 6Brazil is closely divided politically between conservatives who support Bolsonaro and liberals who support da Silva. 7Thomas Traumann is an independent political expert in Brazil. He compared Sunday's results to Biden's victory in 2020. 8"The huge challenge that Lula has will be to pacify the country," Traumann said. "People are not only polarized on political matters, but also have different values, identity and opinions. "What's more," he added, "they don't care what the other side's values, identities and opinions are." 9Da Silva has said he wants to work with centrists and even people who have some conservative views. In April, he named center-right Geraldo Alckmin, a former opponent, to be his running mate. 10Bolsonaro's conservative administration has been criticized for bad management of the COVID-19 pandemic and for permitting the worst deforestation in the Amazon in 15 years. 11Bolsonaro said that da Silva's victory would bring communism, legalized drugs, abortion and bad treatment of religious organizations. These things did not happen during da Silva's earlier eight years in office. 12Da Silva said he will increase spending on the poor and take strong action to stop illegal clear-cutting in the Amazon rainforest. 13"We will once again monitor and do surveillance in the Amazon. We will fight every illegal activity," da Silva said in his speech. "At the same time, we will promote sustainable development of communities in the Amazon." 14Da Silva's win joins recent liberal victories across South America, including in Chile, Colombia and Argentina. 15I'm Andrew Smith. 16Andrew Smith adapted this story for VOA Learning English from reports from the Associated Press and Reuters. 17________________________________________________________________________ 18Words in This Story 19credible -adj. able to be trusted or believed 20comeback -n. a return to a previous position, often a position of success 21conviction -n. being found officially guilty of a crime by a court of law 22challenge -n. something that is very difficult to do, often requiring much effort 23polarized -adj. characterized by a division into two opposite sides or groups 24abortion -n. a medical procedure that ends a pregnancy by removing the embryo or fetus 25monitor -v. to carefully check and observe procedures, actions, or situations 26surveillance -n. the careful watching of an individual or group, often done secretly by police or security forces 27promote -v. to encourage the use of some things, ideas, or actions 28sustainable -adj. able to continue indefinitely into the future 29_______________________________________________________________________ 30We want to hear from you. 31We have a new comment system. Here is how it works: 32Each time you return to comment on the Learning English site, you can use your account and see your comments and replies to them. Our comment policy is here.