Lula wins the elections in Brazil

In front of a massive demonstration of his supporters, who gathered to celebrate the victory, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva gave his first speech after winning the Brazilian presidential elections against Jair Bolsonaro by a narrow margin.

With 99.89% of the votes counted, the leftist leader prevailed with 50.90% of the votes, compared to 49.10% obtained by Bolsonaro.

The former president, who ruled the country from 2003 to 2010, called for the country's unity from a hotel in the city of Sao Paulo accompanied on stage by his closest political allies.

Lula vowed to "restore peace" and govern for all Brazilians in a deeply divided country after a campaign that pitted radically antagonistic candidates against each other.

In his speech, the next president affirmed that no one is interested in living in a country in a permanent "state of war."

Although he recognized that there is a difficult situation, he expressed his confidence that the country will find a way out to return to "living democratically" and rebuild respect for differences by confronting racism and discrimination "relentlessly."

He also reiterated that he will defend the Amazon from commercial interests and that he will regain control of illegal activities in that region.

Here are four outstanding phrases from his first speech, after the Superior Electoral Court declared him the winner.

1. "I had a resurrection process in Brazilian politics. They tried to bury me alive and now I'm here to govern the country"

More than a year after being released from jail for a corruption conviction that ended up being overturned, Lula returned to the front line of Brazilian politics.

Lula was in prison in the context of Lava Jato, a case of bribery for multi-million dollar contracts of the state oil company Petrobras with construction companies, considered the largest corruption scandal in Latin America.

2. "The most urgent commitment is to end hunger"

During his campaign, Lula had highlighted his socioeconomic achievements, such as lifting more than 30 million Brazilians out of poverty thanks to social initiatives financed by the boom in raw materials.

In this third period he will not have the same prosperity: although the economy shows signs of improvement, it is far from the prosperity of the 2000s.

"We cannot accept as normal that millions of people do not have to eat or that they consume less than the calories they need," he said after the results on Sunday.

The left-wing leader stated that it is inconceivable that a country like Brazil, which is one of the world's greatest agricultural powers, the third largest producer of food and the first in animal protein, cannot "guarantee that all Brazilians have a daily breakfast , a lunch and a dinner".

"This will once again be my government's number one commitment," he said.

3. "This town is tired of seeing the other as an enemy. It's time to lower our weapons"

The result of these elections was so close that Lula insisted several times in his speech on the idea of ​​national unity.

"As of January 1, 2023, I will govern for 215 million Brazilians, and not only for those who have voted for me. There are not two countries. We are one Brazil, one people, one great nation."

"I am here to govern this country in a very difficult situation, but with the help of the people we are going to find a way out for the country to live democratically again," he said.

The president-elect said that "no one is interested in living in a permanent state of war" and that "it is necessary to rebuild this country in all its dimensions."

"The majority of the people made it very clear that they want more and not less democracy, more and not less social inclusion, more and not less respect and understanding among Brazilians," added the former president.

"The people want more freedom, equality and fraternity in our country. The people want to eat well, live well, they want well-paid jobs, they want quality public policies, they want religious freedom and books instead of weapons."

4. "Today we tell the world that Brazil is back"

Lula argued that Brazil is too big to be "relegated to the sad role of a world pariah."

In this regard, he affirmed that he will fight for a new global governability, for the inclusion of more nations to the Security Council of the United Nations Organization, as well as to put an end to the right to veto.

He also left room to refer to international trade and investment.

"We will recover the country's credibility, predictability and stability, so that investors trust Brazil again," said the left-wing leader.

In his speech he also stated that his government is willing to resume its leading role in the fight against the climate crisis, especially protecting the Amazon rainforest.