![Pinterest](https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://uknews.evprotec.com/brazil-election-a-moment-in-history-as-lula-returns/&media=https://uknews.evprotec.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/127432173_mediaitem127432172.jpg&description=Image source, ReutersImage caption, Lula addressing supporters in São Paulo after his election winAs news of Lula's victory spread, a sea of red - the colours of his Workers' Party - massed on São Paulo's main street, Paulista Avenue, eager for a glimpse of the president-elect."Lula has returned," the crowd chanted, as they let off red smoke in celebration. "It was a very hard campaign," Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva admitted to the crowds a few hours later. "It wasn't Lula against Bolsonaro, it was a campaign of democracy against barbarity." Like him or loathe him, the fact that Lula, once Brazil's most popular politician, is returning to the top job is a moment in history. "I feel free, relieved not only for the Brazilian people but for the whole planet - for the Amazon, for democracy, for human rights," said 47-year-old Viridiana Aleixo, while admitting that Brazil remained very divided. "We have to be very patient, and we have to leave the anger and hatred behind." Twenty years ago, Lula came to power promising huge change - but a subsequent fall from grace over corruption scandals disqualified him from running in 2018. He had a stint in prison, before his charges were annulled. It has been quite a journey for Lula, but he has returned with a vengeance. "I went through a political resurrection, because they tried to bury me alive," Lula said. "From the first of January there won't be two Brazils, we are one - we don't want to fight anymore, it's time to lay down our weapons that should never have been raised in the first place."But uniting Brazil will be Lula's biggest challenge. On Sunday, 24-year-old Felipe Fonte went to vote dressed in Brazil's football shirt, a colour that's become linked with Brazil's far right. "I think [President Jair] Bolsonaro has a lot of flaws, but he's a man of God," says Felipe. "He has the right principles, and he's not the biggest thief that ever existed in Brazil. So that for me is the biggest thing." Although Lula officially takes o){kind=link}
As news of Lula’s victory spread, a sea of red – the colours of his Workers’ Party – massed on São Paulo’s main street, Paulista Avenue, eager for a glimpse of the president-elect.
“Lula has returned,” the crowd chanted, as they let off red smoke in celebration.
“It was a very hard campaign,” Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva admitted to the crowds a few hours later. “It wasn’t Lula against Bolsonaro, it was a campaign of democracy against barbarity.”
Like him or loathe him, the fact that Lula, once Brazil’s most popular politician, is returning to the top job is a moment in history.
“I feel free, relieved not only for the Brazilian people but for the whole planet – for the Amazon, for democracy, for human rights,” said 47-year-old Viridiana Aleixo, while admitting that Brazil remained very divided. “We have to be very patient, and we have to leave the anger and hatred behind.”