The Trump of the Tropics vs. the Bernie of Brazil

Worldly

Vox Media Podcast Network

News, Politics, News Commentary

4.4 • 1.8K Ratings

🗓️ 11 March 2021

⏱️ 43 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Zack, Jenn, and Alex discuss the huge news out of Brazil this week, where a judge annulled the corruption conviction of the country’s former leftist president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, opening the door for him to possibly run for president in 2022. The gang talks about what Lula was accused of, the debate about whether the case was fairly prosecuted, why Lula is revered by many of the country’s poor but loathed by its conservative elites, and how his return to the political scene could set the stage for a fiery election contest against the country’s current president, the far-right Jair Bolsonaro. References: Two Vox videos, one on Operation Car Wash and the other on Bolsonaro’s rise, provide great context. Back when it happened, Zack explained Operation Car Wash for Vox. Here’s Lula’s recent interview with The Ink where he discusses his, uh, vigor. The Intercept Brazil showed Sergio Moro’s connections to the prosecution during Operation Car Wash. Voice of America offered a good rundown of the case against Lula. Reuters covered Lula’s “stump speech” that has many speculating about his 2022 plans. Bolsonaro’s messaging on Covid-19 has been disastrous, BBC News reported. The stats Jenn cited about Lula’s approval rating after he left office came from El País. Hosts: Zack Beauchamp (@zackbeauchamp), senior correspondent, Vox Jennifer Williams (@jenn_ruth), senior foreign editor, Vox Alex Ward (@AlexWardVox), White House reporter, Vox Consider contributing to Vox: If you value Worldly’s work, please consider making a contribution to Vox: bit.ly/givepodcasts More to explore: Subscribe for free to Today, Explained, Vox’s daily podcast to help you understand the news, hosted by Sean Rameswaram. About Vox: Vox is a news network that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines. Follow Us: Vox.com Newsletter: Vox Sentences Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	It's been a pretty incredible week in Brazilian politics.
0:12.3	The most significant development has been a court ruling overturning the conviction
0:16.8	of Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, the former president of Brazil, commonly known as Lula,
0:22.7	who is one of the most charismatic and controversial political figures in the country.
0:26.9	The overturning of Lula's conviction sets the stage for him to run for president in 2022,
0:32.1	which it seems like he's likely to do based on what sounded like a stump speech that he
0:36.0	gave after his conviction was overturned against the incumbent Brazilian president, Jair
0:40.7	Bolsonaro, who is the best way to describe him is Trump, but even worse, it seems that
0:47.1	Bolsonaro has embarked on a strategy of herd immunity for the COVID-19 pandemic that
0:52.3	has put many, many Brazilians at risk and raised its death rates to one of the worst
0:56.1	in the world.
0:57.1	He has also ceded his government with former military figures and openly praised the country's
1:02.2	military dictatorship, which has only been out of power for about three decades.
1:06.1	In other words, Lula is shaping up to be the primary challenger to a man who seems
1:11.3	intent on wrecking Brazilian society and democracy.
1:14.1	Today in Worldly, part of the Vox Media Podcast Network, we're going to get into what happened
1:18.1	with Lula, why he was convicted, and why the conviction was overturned.
1:21.7	And then we're going to talk about what his re-emergence means for the threat to Brazilian
1:26.3	democracy posed by Bolsonaro and what's likely to happen in the coming Brazilian presidential
1:31.7	election.
1:32.7	I'm Zach Beishim here, as always, with Jen Williams and Alex Ward.
1:35.3	Hey.
	...

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