Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva won re-election as President of Brazil and held a celebration on the night of October 25th.Credit: Maira Erlich/Bloomberg, Getty Images
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s re-election on October 25 has reassured many researchers who feared that Brazil’s scientific institutions, funding and environmental policies could face renewed pressure under right-wing candidate Flavio Bolsonaro. Lula won 51.8% of the vote, compared with 48.2% for Bolsonaro, after neither candidate secured a majority in the first round on October 4.
In the weeks before the vote, several of Brazil’s leading scientific organizations, including the Brazilian Academy of Sciences in Rio de Janeiro, circulated open letters supporting Lula. More than 20,000 people signed them. “Words cannot express how happy the scientific community and Brazilian society are at Lula’s victory,” said Paulo Artaxo, a physicist at the University of São Paulo.
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Researchers had been concerned that a Bolsonaro victory could bring cuts to science and weaken research, as they say happened during the presidency of Jair Bolsonaro, Flavio Bolsonaro’s father. Jair Bolsonaro served as Brazil’s president from 2019 to 2023, a period in which he cut science funding, used anti-science rhetoric, questioned vaccines and promoted unproven treatments during the coronavirus pandemic.
The former president was barred from running again after being sentenced to prison for a coup plot that he instigated after losing to Lula, who was seeking re-election in 2022. He is serving his sentence at home because of health concerns.
“It was very moving to witness this historic shift,” said Sidharta Ribeiro, a neuroscientist at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte in Natal. Lula’s victory followed a tense election day. Shortly before voting ended, a judge from Brazil’s Supreme Court ordered polling stations to remain open for an additional two hours. Both campaigns had called for the extension because problems with public transport had made it difficult for voters to reach polling places. In a short speech, Bolsonaro said that he would not accept the results.
Support for science
Lula will serve his fourth term as Brazil’s president, a record for the country. He previously led the country for two terms, from 2003 to 2011. During that period, and during his current term, which began in 2023, he supported the expansion of federal universities and pledged to make higher education accessible to more Brazilians.
In 2024, Lula also launched a programme intended to bring about 600 Brazilian scientists back to the country from international organizations. Some of those researchers had left in search of better funding and resources.
“In his victory speech, Mr. Lula made it clear that we need to strengthen federal universities and federal institutes and significantly improve the way we prepare young people for the new world—[artificial intelligence] and robotics,” Ribeiro said.
On October 25, supporters of Brazilian President Lula cheered in the streets of São Paulo after it was announced that he had won re-election in a close election.Credit: Rodrigo Paiva/Getty
Flavio Bolsonaro had proposed transferring management of Brazil’s 69 federal universities from the Education Ministry to the Science and Technology Ministry, which has a much smaller budget. He also said that his government would prioritize applied science over basic research.
That proposal worried researchers who regard basic research as essential to long-term scientific progress. “The countries that have made the most scientific progress are the ones that have a very strong foundation in basic research,” Ribeiro said.
Environmental concerns
The election also raised questions about the future of Brazil’s environmental policy. Under President Lula, deforestation across large areas of the Amazon rainforest fell to its lowest level since measurements began in 1988. Under Jair Bolsonaro’s government, however, deforestation increased by almost 60% between 2019 and 2023. Some researchers expected a similar trend if his son had won.
The Amazon rainforest is considered one of the world’s largest carbon sinks, although research suggests that deforestation could cause it to release more carbon than it absorbs.
During his recent campaign, Lula said he would work to end deforestation in Brazil by 2030 and reduce the country’s greenhouse-gas emissions in line with the Paris Agreement, which countries signed nearly a decade ago to curb climate change.
“The Lula government’s plan is very clear. He will aim for zero deforestation in the Amazon and work towards implementing an energy transition program that will end the use of fossil fuels in Brazil,” Artaxo said.
Source: www.nature.com
