Hello Fellow Brazilian Redditors,
This post got a lot longer than I expected, a TL;DR is at the end.
EDIT: Poor choice of word in 'Expat' as it seems to be causing some confusion. My reasoning behind it was that I have no plans nor wish to return to live in the country of my birth (US) and am working to integrate into Brazil and is common in communities of people that have left their countries of birth. I should have used 'Immigrant' as I am both.
First of all, congrats on the election, I went to a Lula rally in a town that voted 60% for Flavio, and turnout was great, we took our entire family to the streets on Sunday night to celebrate.
Truly a historic win for Lula and although it will be a tough 4 years with the Congress the way it is, I truly believe that if Flavio had won it would have been the last free/fair election for some time in Brazil.
I am a gringo from the US that moved with my dual citizenship wife and daughter to Brazil earlier this year. Loving it so far, although my Portuguese is slow going. I was very active politically in the US and have a lesson I learned from my past that I would like to pass onto my Brazilian brothers/sisters.
In 2008, I was very involved in Barack Obama's campaign for President. Like the runoff in Brazil, it seemed that everything was against us. We were working for a candidate that gave us hope that things could change, but in the early primaries, it was difficult, and when Obama got the nomination for President, there was always a question on whether the US would elect our first African American President. But we worked our asses off and he won!
The joy and relief on election night was so similar to the 2nd round in Brazil! Everyone out celebrating and the pride I had in my country was amazing. It felt like it was a new age, and that far-right conservativism was dying. I drove from South Florida to Washington DC for the Inauguration a couple months later and laughed, cried and had a ton of hugs from strangers when Obama was sworn in as President. The vibe was electric and we were ready to work, to do whatever we needed to make some serious change!
But it didn't work out that way.
The organization and energy that we had so much of during and immediately after the election faded. There were some positive things that happened right after he was sworn into office, but the enthusiasm and momentum that was so high during the campaign just slowly went away. There were no conference calls, the online groups slowly went quieter and quieter and the people that were ready to work, to sacrifice and do some real good were never called upon to do the work. 2 years after Obama was elected, the Conservatives re-took the Congress and everything pretty much stopped. Of course Obama was reelected in 2012, but it was a tougher fight and the organization that was built in 2008 (volunteers, energy) was much less in 2012. They wasted millions of people that were ready to fight, work and make real change.
The next US President was Trump in 2016.
This past Sunday, it was a 'Code-Red' situation, when Democracy in Brazil was in the balance. On Saturday I walked with Communists, Anti-Fascists, Socialists, Teachers, LGBTQ, old folks, young folks, teachers, professionals, laborers, there were people from every group there. It was such a great rally the day before the election. It was because of the 'Code-Red' that all these people from differing groups got together and voted for Democracy. For most, it was a Pro-Lula rally, but I know for a lot of them, it was more of an Anti-Bolsonaro rally. If a Bolsonaro is not a candidate the next election, things might turn out differently.
Brazil learned the lessons that the US failed to by not electing someone that had the same views as the disgraced previous leader did (in the US case it was the same person, Trump, in Brazil it was Jair's son). Kudos to Brazil on that, you did what the US failed to do. But I would hate to see all this energy, this passion, this movement fade over time and in 4 years there may not be a 2nd round/chance to make things right. I experienced similar energy/momentum/passion fade between 2008 and 2012.
I am not saying that this will happen, just sharing my personal experience and disappointment that the change that we worked so hard for never materialized in 2008. I am still learning the ways of Brazil, and I may be way off-base. If so, let me know in the comments! It was just after the first round, and so many people just thought that Lula would win, and when he was behind all night, it seemed to me that PT was a little lost. That all changed with the energy of so many groups getting together, using Social Media/WhatsApp (Lula's Army FTW, and yes, I joined the group), organically organizing, fighting and creating momentum/energy. All that came together in like under two weeks. Things that grow that quickly can fade just as quickly as people get busy, there is less engagement and the 'emergency/Code-Red' is passed.
So, my Brazilian Brothers and Sisters, for those of you that voted for Lula, and felt the relief, joy and energy Sunday night. You have to work to keep that alive. This is because the Far Right never stops. Sunday night was a reason to celebrate, but now the real work begins because the Billionaires, Corporations (Tech and others) and folks that want to not take us forward, but hold us back always play the long-game. Brazil is such an amazing country, so worth fighting for, which you all did on Sunday and won the battle. The war is far from over though.
Brazil showed on Sunday that it has the strength, passion and power to fight back against anyone that doesn't want to move Brazil forward. Keep that good shit going. Local elections, getting people involved, keeping people engaged and excited and organizing will be so important. I am planning on getting my Brazilian citizenship well before the next election, so I will be right there with you all. You all did it on Sunday, we can do it again and again!
TL;DR: Gringo that moved to Brazil this year and worked with the first Obama campaign, shared that the energy, optimism and passion was very similar to Lula's win on Sunday night. But in 2008, that energy faded because there wasn't organization and work to keep people engaged. Did not turn out well because Trump was the next President after Obama. The result on Sunday was awesome, but now the real work begins to keep the energy, organization and passion for the next election.
