Happy Friday! Today, we explain how markets are resigned about Lula. How Omicron is stressing Brazil’s health network. And the Brazilian team at the Winter Olympics.
Markets changing their approach to Lula
With eight months to go until Election Day, findings from opinion polls should be taken with a grain of salt. But the leaders of major financial institutions are already treating a victory for former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva — who enjoys a wide lead in every major poll — as the most likely outcome in the October elections.
- President Jair Bolsonaro is expected to narrow this gap in the coming months, especially considering that anti-left sentiment remains a strong political force in Brazil.
- But big business is coming to terms with the fact that, barring a “black swan” (an event so outlandish that it couldn’t be predicted), the presidential race is Lula’s to lose.
Why it matters. As pollsters working for big banks tell BrasĂlia correspondent Amanda Audi, the plan now is not to prevent Lula from winning, but to build bridges in order to have an influence in the future administration.
U-turn? This move by market institutions is more to do with pragmatism than any