November 1, 2022

Brazil: Guaranteeing human rights must be a priority during transition period

October 31, 2022

Brazil’s presidential election ended on the night of Sunday, 30 October. According to the official information published by the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), the candidate Luiz Inácio da Silva was elected with 50.90% of the votes, against 49.10% for reelection of the candidate Jair Messias Bolsonaro. Blank and invalid votes represented 4.59% of the total.

Amnesty International warns that human rights must be a priority in the government transition period.

The election was marked by threats to the civil rights of the Brazilian people. There were serious complaints that the Federal Highway Police did not comply with TSE decisions and carried out at least 560 inspection operations against vehicles carrying out public transportation of voters on Sunday.

In addition to impediments to the free transit of citizens, the elections were marked by the dissemination of false news, statements by President Jair Bolsonaro and the actions of other public authorities that generated fears over the integrity of state institutions and respect for the outcome of the elections. Episodes of political violence were recurrent.

People denounced electoral harassment in their workplaces, members of religious communities denounced situations of coercion for demonstrating in defense of human rights, candidates and ordinary citizens suffered physical aggression or were killed for exercising their right to freedom of expression. Journalists were also assaulted and intimidated, and indigenous communities were deprived of their right to political participation.

More:
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2022/10/brazil-guaranteeing-human-rights-priority-transition-period/

November 1, 2022

Brazilian Highway Police Allegedly Blocked Lula Voters During Eve Of Country's Presidential Election

Brazilian Highway Police Allegedly Blocked Lula Voters During Eve Of Country's Presidential Elections: Report
Elle Yap / Oct 31 2022, 11:27PM EDT

The Federal Highway Police of Brazil is being accused of blocking voters of the new President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Sunday in the Northeast region of Brazil, as the Supreme Electoral Tribunal has asked for an explanation for their actions.

Many officials, activists, and voters have reportedly complained about the biased nature of the Federal Highway Police in areas that support Lula, with federal deputy Paulo Teixeira of the Workers’ Party claiming that the Federal Police and Highway Police are both interfering with the election, according to Brasil de Fato.

Illegal roadblocks were reportedly put up by the Highway Police in the Northeastern parts of Brazil, allegedly as a way of consolidating the vote to give Jair Bolsonaro a better chance of winning, as surveys before the election showed him lagging behind Lula in those territories, Reuters reported.

The Supreme Electoral Tribunal had previously ordered the Highway Police to take down the roadblocks before the elections.

More:
https://www.latintimes.com/brazilian-highway-police-allegedly-blocked-lula-voters-during-eve-countrys-531371

November 1, 2022

How Bolsonaro's defeat leads the rise of left in Latin America

4 min read . Updated: 01 Nov 2022, 11:18 AM IST
Sharmila Bhadoria

Months of campaigning and massive polarisation yielded no results for Jair Bolsonaro, as he lost by a thin margin from the veteran leftist, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in Brazil's Presidential elections on Sunday.

Winner Lula da Silva prevailed over the incumbent President Jair Bolsonaro by winning 50.09 per cent of votes. With this, the drama that had entangled the Brazilian economy in a series of wrong decisions taken by Jair Bolsonaro has come to an end. Be it handling of COVID pandemic in the country or saving the Amazon, Jair Bolsonaro’s disastrous leadership left Brazilians fighting for their rights as basic as free speech.

The victory of Lula da Silva can help heal the Amazon
Jair Bolsonaro’s policy proved to be a major climate catastrophe. It was never only the environment, as his stance on the COVID pandemic, free speech, arms laws, and several other issues threw Brazil into a path of instability.

Talking about saving the Amazon rainforest, both the leaders, Jair Bolsonaro and Lula da Silva, claimed to reduce deforestation during their tenure. A close look at the Prodes report, shows that its results align with Jair Bolsonaro’s claim that deforestation was at its lowest during his tenure. However, the report also sheds light upon Lula da Silva’s efforts, which brought down deforestation to a historically low level by the time he left office in 2010. On contrary, the rate of deforestation increased annually under Jair Bolsonaro’s leadership.

More:
https://www.livemint.com/news/world/how-bolsonaro-s-defeat-leads-the-rise-of-left-in-latin-america-11667204550448.html