Brazil’s president fights second round in election

---

The first round of Brazil’s presidential, parliamentary and state elections took place last Sunday. 

The Labour-type Workers’ Party candidate and Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff will fight for re-election in the second round.

Her opponent is the right wing Brazilian Social Democracy Party senator Aécio Neves. 

Conservatives backed by big business dominated the parliamentary elections.  

The Brazilian radical left was divided between three presidential candidates. 

The Socialism and Freedom Party (PSOL) candidate Luciana Genro came in fourth place with 1.6 million votes 

Her party ran the most energetic campaign. It focused on issues that have been raised by social movements, such as abortion, LGBT rights and urban reform. 

The June 2013 protests did not translate into significant electoral changes. But PSOL had a particular breakthrough in Rio de Janeiro state, where last year’s protests had a more lasting political impact

The elections once again showed the importance of the Brazilian left standing with workers’ struggles and social movements.

 

If you enjoy Socialist Worker, please consider giving to our annual appeal to make sure we can maintain and develop our online and print versions of Socialist Worker. Go here for details and to donate.