Brazil's Internal Social and Political War.

News | Olivia Santos | September 16th, 2022.

Like many newspapers, Brazil’s headliners for almost all of their articles are about politics. But politics in Brazil have a deeper meaning—they represent an ongoing social and emotional conflict between almost all citizens of this now divided country.

Brazil is currently facing some serious social tension because of the upcoming elections taking place on October 2nd. These general elections are known to cause social strain due to the highly competitive candidates with views that almost always contradict each other. Brazil’s political system, much like the United States’, is a representative democratic republic, meaning that by a certain point in the elections, two political parties battle each other for the president and vice president positions.

The two candidates standing at the mercy of the people this election season are current President Jair Bolsonaro and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (most commonly referred to as Lula). Both men stand at opposite ends of the political spectrum, providing for an ongoing heated debate in not only politics but private social affairs. People may talk about politics at Thanksgiving, but in Brazil, they are discussed almost everywhere. Whether it be between friends, family, or online, not a day goes by where people are not aggressively debating and arguing for their beliefs, but at the end of the day, the predicted outcomes of elections remain uncertain.

This is not the first time the world has seen a country as divided as this one — the 2020 presidential election in the United States shows an almost direct parallel with the 2022 presidential election in Brazil: A divided country full of struggling power differences (financial and political) and violence (whether physical or cyber). And the ones who choose not to involve themselves are still caught up in it all because, in reality, the future of the country resides on who, left or right, will claim victory.