A Letter From Santiago, Spain: Is Brazil a Beacon for Democracy?

Brazil Beats Back Dystopia

I just finished a 72-mile walk from Sarria, Spain to the Cathedral in Santiago along the Way of St. James aka el Camino de Santiago. It’s a religious pilgrimage with its roots in medieval times presumably taken to wash away our sins in preparation for a shorter time in purgatory.

The idea is to disconnect from the real world and contemplate your reality.

It’s something one begins to think about at my age when the future is shorter than the past as I approach 70 in 2023. I disconnected on the walk but was jolted back to reality on my way out of town.

With the Camino behind me and on my way out of Santiago, I was in a taxi leaving the main square in front of the stairs leading up to the magnificent Cathedral. There, I couldn't help but notice a young man getting his picture taken as he unfurled a giant banner emblazoned with a smiling guy, a Brazilian flag, and “Lula” in large yellow letters across the bottom.

Little notice was being taken of him, and my partner asked if I knew what it was all about.

Here’s the skinny.

In Brazil’s presidential elections, Luiz Inácio Lula de Silva, a former Brazilian president with left-leaning leadership known by the nom de plume as Lula, has beaten incumbent right-wing autocrat, dystopian dictator murderer Jair Bolsonaro in an incredibly close contest.

Photo of “Lula”, Brazil’s newly elected president. By Ricardo Stuckert via Wikipedia

Who knew? Most Americans can’t even find South America on the map let only tell you where Brazil is. However, the outcome is a beacon for democracies throughout the world and should be a lesson to voters here in the U.S. getting ready for midterm elections next week.

In case you were wondering if your vote would count in next week’s midterms here in the United States, you can look no further than in South America. The vote count was 50.9% to 49.1%. Lula won by a margin of just over 2 million votes out of over 118 ½ million cast. That’s less than 2%.

Every vote counted.

Bolsonaro supporters have, of course, claimed election fraud and have taken to the streets to block highways, disrupt the country, and cause mayhem in society.

I’m reminded of neighborhood touch football games when I was 10 years old, when my friend Tommy looked like he was going to lose, he would pick up his football and go home, claiming that someone cheated.

I mistakenly thought we had all grown up.

I‘m also reminded of local elections I’ve been a part of since Trump gained continued notoriety by saying he won, even though he clearly didn’t. Pure chaos. And, some would say he shouldn’t have been president in the first place as his opponent, Hilary Clinton, had way more votes than he did. He won because of an antiquated part of our system called the Electoral College that had him winning. (Note: it’s the same constitution he flaunts regularly as being nothing short of ridiculous. Maybe he’s right.)

We need to take a lesson from all of this so we can make things right when we vote next Tuesday.