By Flavio Gut
Being on Avenida Paulista on Sunday night, October 30th, was witnessing history unfolding before my eyes.
Just like the rallies during the Diretas campaign, the promulgation of the 1988 Constitution, or even Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s election on October 27th, 2002, the election of the PT candidate and the center-left coalition marks an undeniable milestone in Brazil’s history.
It’s a milestone not only for Lula and his impressive biography, but for the entire country. With his election, Brazil takes its first steps in the fight against fascism and far-right movements led by President Jair Bolsonaro and his supporters.
It’s a significant and crucial first step.
I want to say to all of you that this victory is not just mine, nor is it solely the PT’s victory. It is a victory for all women and men who love democracy, who seek freedom, and who want a fairer country. It is a victory for those who desire more culture, more education, more brotherhood, and more equality. This victory belongs to all the men and women who have decided to free this country from authoritarianism.
That’s how Lula began his speech in front of his supporters on Avenida Paulista. Many had been there since late afternoon, following the vote counts on a giant screen installed in the building where CNN operates, which is located close to the iconic São Paulo Museum of Art (MASP), where the newly elected president would deliver his speech.
When the victory was confirmed, there was a moment of disbelief, perhaps. For a fraction of a second, those present wondered if it could really be true. In a country bombarded daily for four years with lies and disrespect, Lula’s election and everything it represents seemed, for a moment, like a dream.
But it was (and still is) a real dream.
The shout erupted as a relief, as catharsis, and it filled Avenida Paulista with a Brazil reborn in its democracy.
However, what I saw and felt was a certain contained joy. Many greeted each other like old friends who had never met before. The natural diversity of Avenida Paulista showed the face of a Brazil with 215 million people.
A Brazil that entered the 2022 elections deeply divided, within families, at work, in churches and temples. And now, it will have to embark on a path of reunification and rediscovery. Brazil is one, within its diversity.
Right-wing, left-wing, people from the South and Northeast, from the North and Central-West, people of mixed race, black and white, and the many other colors that make up our nation, will now have the opportunity to acknowledge their differences while realizing what unites us.
It won’t be an easy task. Certainly not.
But Lula’s victory is a victory against fascism. An important victory.
As I wrote on Sunday morning, Brazil experienced its D-Day of democracy and emerged victorious. Just like the Allies landing in Normandy on June 6th, 1944, there is still much to be done until fascism is definitively defeated. But the first step has been taken.
There is a thorny path until the new president takes office. But it is a path.
From there on, we will begin the process of redemocratizing the country and building a Brazil for all Brazilians.
FOTO: Flavio Gut
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