Latin America’s richest and most populous country, Brazil, goes to the polls on October 25 for a run-off between President Lula da Silva and Flávio, the son of imprisoned former president Jair Bolsonaro. The country’s choice will define the future of Brazilian democracy, as well as sovereignty and politics across the entire region.

Openly backed by Trump and Rubio, Flávio is currently leading the polls after finishing the first round with 47% of the vote. He is running on an openly authoritarian platform, promising to construct Bukele-style megaprisons, to rewrite the 1988 Constitution, to slash the state, to cede Brazil’s rare earths to the United States, and, of course, to free his father. As Rodrigo Nunes puts it, what he offers is a “privately managed, differentially distributed state of nature”: a situation in which the state relinquishes ever more responsibility for mediating social conflict and instead enshrines the rule of brute force.

Along with Mexico, Brazil is one of the last holdouts against the right-wing wave sweeping Latin America, as country after country elects a pro-Trump right-wing candidates. Over the last couple of weeks, pro-democratic forces have taken to the street in historic mobilisations in the hope of thrusting Lula towards re-election. But can he overcome the deficit from the first round?

Equator is teaming up with Alameda for an event with leading Brazilian public intellectuals on this most important of elections — on its stakes for Brazil and for the world.

Speakers:
Rodrigo Nunes, Professor of Philosophy at PUC-Rio de Janeiro and Alameda Associate
Camila Rocha, Scientific Director at the Centre for Critical Imagination/CEBRAP
Miguel Lago, Executive Director of Instituto de Estudos para Políticas de Saúde and Alameda Associate

Moderator:
Juliano Fiori, Director of Alameda