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It was the center of spontaneous demonstrations by tens of thousands of followers of Luiz Inácio ‘Lula’ da Silva as soon as it was confirmed that he would return to power in Brazil. A day later, the street that marks the pulse of the most populous city of the Latin American giant returned to its normal rhythm, although neither it nor those who travel it are now the same.
It seemed like a normal day. But it wasn’t. The rain woke up São Paulo on October 31 with a bath of sanity after its main avenue had turned into a carnival the night before. One in which ‘Lula’ da Silva made the dream of half -and a little more- of Brazilians come true with her victory, while the other was plunged into grief.
The day, gray and leaden, was reflected in the expression of the majority of passers-by on the imposing road. Executives, homeless citizens wandering between traffic lights, tall people, short people, rich poor, black, white, Asian… All protagonists of the stories that give life to this street, in which ‘Lula’ is loved as much as he is hated Silva and his rival in contention.
Before the stairs of the Cásper Líbero Faculty of Radio and Television, from where voters descended in torrents a day before, a group of university students debated what lies ahead for the country. Rafael Barros, one of them, claimed to be “very happy” that Bolsonaro did not repeat his mandate. “Everyone lost someone in the pandemic,” he says, although he was also not happy with ‘Lula’s’ campaign and his alliances with politicians like Geraldo Alckim -his vice-presidential formula-, whom he blames for brutally violent police when he was governor. from São Paulo.
A few meters away, a group of bank workers was crossing the street, who said they were frustrated with the results. “The feeling belongs to all of them,” exalts one of them, adding that as financiers, the country’s economy is what worries them the most: “The Bolsonaro government was the most supported for economic reasons.” Another of them, Erika, says she feels “powerless”. He (‘Lula’) was in charge of one of the worst corruption plots that happened and I do not agree with his victory, but I respect democracy”.
“Democracy” was heard on every corner, it was present in every conversation, after Bolsonaro decided not to appear once the Superior Electoral Court confirmed the third victory of ‘Lula’. Something unprecedented in the young democratic trajectory of Brazil. The president’s silence, similar to that assumed for several days by Donald Trump after his 2020 loss to Joe Biden, caused many to worry. Especially for the reference to the taking of the Capitol in Washington in January 2021.
“That behavior is appalling. There is nothing truer and fairer than speaking out, at least for the people who support it. I think he lacked humility,” said Robson, a young taxi driver who supported the centrist Simone Tebet in the first round and Bolsonaro in the second.
A new Brazil more divided than ever
Robson has only been working as a taxi driver for a month and is an engineer. He says that he left his career after working for seven years in strategic planning at the infrastructure company OAS. The company was one of those splashed in the ‘Lava Jato’ plot and the judicial investigation caused dismissals, his among them, he recounts in a calm tone, although not free of frustration, and assures that he did not want ‘Lula’ to win, but who was also not convinced to support Bolsonaro. “He turned a blind eye to the people who were dying from Covid-19” and that was what caused “they chose ‘Lula’ again,” he says.
The night before, precisely ‘Lula’ had asked for a minute of silence for the victims of the pandemic in the middle of the avenue. Barely 100 meters from the point where he spoke, there is the Lindacy Pires kiosk, one of the few people who did not hide his enthusiasm, despite the fact that the night before he had stayed until 11:00 p.m. attending to the Lulistas who arrived by water and soft drinks at the premises.
“I couldn’t stand that government anymore. He was inhuman he planted discord between people, he is racist, homophobic. Now, ‘Lula’ no, he’s wonderful”, says Lindacy, who, with a smile from ear to ear, says that he is “Pernambucan, like the president (Lula)” and lets out a laugh.
A few meters further, between columns with PT posters with an L in the middle, at the height of the São Paulo Museum of Art, where the mass leader had stood on the platform the night before, there were still some traces of celebration. . Some bottles and cans.
In the lower part of the emblematic red building, some of the tens of thousands of homeless citizens who inhabit the city were camping. Vitor Araujo, a handicraft vendor, is also on the verge of destitution, but he assures that he expects changes with the new government and repeats, like many of those around him, that he feels “happy.”
