Podcast

Explaining Brazil #214: The broad front gets broader

Marina Silva, who until recently was highly critical of Lula and his Workers' Party, has just endorsed the former president. For her, democrats' main goal should be unseating Jair Bolsonaro

On multiple occasions, former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva told voters that he is the only person capable of leading a broad front against President Jair Bolsonaro, an anti-democratic leader who, despite the numerous failures of his administration, still commands the support of one-third of the electorate. 

That broad front just got broader on Monday, when Lula shared a stage with and got the endorsement from Marina Silva, his former Environment Minister. A former ally, Ms. Silva has had a strained relationship with the Workers’ Party in recent years.

Their rapprochement was the culmination of months of behind-the-scenes negotiations to heal old wounds that had been opened by politics. It now gives Lula bonafide credentials in one area where Mr. Bolsonaro is the weakest: the environment.

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Guest:

  • Euan Marshall is an editor at The Brazilian Report and also hosts the Explaining Brazil podcast in the absence of Gustavo Ribeiro. 

This episode used music from Uppbeat. License codes: PPWUGD14MZTQFEEV, KC1YCZNP4CGEAHWO, GRKMCSTTWVRW0FOH, OEHFYDSWZVCGQXAP, GPS5VHTTSMIBMVXZ, 2KQRQRX7R5UTMPZM.

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