Brazil is in steadier hands with President Lula in charge

Editorial: Whatever else may be said about Lula – and he has had a chequered career – he will at least be less of a menace to the planet than Bolsonaro

All can breathe a sigh of relief, as the Amazon rainforest, the ‘lungs of the world’, are in better hands (AFP via Getty)

Ominously, Jair Bolsonaro, “the Tropical Trump”, has been refusing to accept his (admittedly narrow) defeat by the leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, or Lula – a kind of Brazilian Jeremy Corbyn. It is quite the swing, and the first time an incumbent Brazilian head of government has been defeated in a (mostly) orderly election.

It suggests, if nothing else, that the spirit of Brazilian democracy – only truly free since 1985 – has survived the predations of the Bolsonaro years. It is good news for Brazil and the world, given that Brazil has such formidable economic potential and is the guardian of one of the world’s great rain forests, badly denuded under Mr Bolosnaro. Development and environmental protection do not have to be in conflict, and were not under much of Lula’s previous spell in power.

Brazil is no stranger to coups, but Mr Bolsonaro’s chances of overturning the poll, Trump-style, seem slim. Despite some light voter harassment by the police, and years of provinces and cities under the control of Mr Bolsonaro’s allies being favoured for federal funds, he still lost.