Has Palestine become an election issue in Latin America’s largest country? |
Brazil is experiencing one of its most polarised electoral battles, as the race intensifies between President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and his right-wing rival, Flávio Bolsonaro, the son of former President Jair Bolsonaro. While the economy, security and domestic crises dominate voters’ concerns, an issue that at first glance appears to lie thousands of kilometres away from Brasília has moved to the heart of the electoral contest: Palestine.
The latest Datafolha poll points to an extremely tight race, with Lula, the Workers’ Party (PT) candidate, receiving 39 percent of voting intentions in the first round, compared with 35 percent for Flávio Bolsonaro, the Liberal Party (PL) candidate.
But the contest between Lula and Flávio Bolsonaro is unfolding at a moment when Latin America’s political map is itself being redrawn. A broader shift to the right has gathered momentum across the region, from Javier Milei’s Argentina to José Antonio Kast’s Chile and the election of a right-wing government in Colombia, while Venezuela has been plunged into an extraordinary political transition following the capture and removal of Nicolás Maduro.
Against this rapidly changing regional backdrop, Brazil’s election is about far more than who will occupy the presidency. It is also about what kind of Brazil will emerge from the ballot box, and where Latin America’s largest country will position itself within a region undergoing a profound geopolitical realignment.
Against this rapidly changing regional backdrop, Brazil’s election is about far more than who will occupy the presidency. It is also about what kind of Brazil will emerge from the ballot box, and where Latin America’s largest country will position itself within a region undergoing a profound geopolitical realignment.
In that struggle, Palestine, and relations with Israel in particular, has emerged as one of the clearest dividing lines between the two competing political projects.
READ: Palestinian sources: Marwan Barghouti proposes unified Fatah list for legislative elections
Flávio Bolsonaro has made his position clear. If elected, he has pledged to strengthen Brazil’s alliance with Israel and move the Brazilian embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, declaring that Brazil would move towards “alignment with Israel” from 2027. Lula, by contrast, has maintained a diplomatic approach based on recognition of the Palestinian state and support for the two-state solution, while strongly criticising Israeli military operations in Gaza. Brazil recognised the State of Palestine in 2010 and continues officially to support the establishment of an independent Palestinian state along the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
🇧🇷 BOLSONARO AMPLÍA LA VENTAJA........