When the righteous increase, the people rejoice, But when a wicked man rules, people groan.
– Proverbs 29:2
News of the reelection of Lula da Silva spread across the world Sunday evening, a surprising development considering opposing candidate Flávio Bolsonaro’s victory in the first-round October 4th election. Bolsonaro had received endorsements from all other candidates (excluding Lula, obviously). Minutes before voting was supposed to end, Lula’s campaign secured a two-hour extension of voting hours (though it appears Bolsonaro’s campaign requested the same in the southern part of Brazil, where inclement weather affected travel conditions and electricity in some locations).
While the ink was still wet on the ballots after Lula’s victory was declared, Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered Bolsonaro not to leave the country and demanded he turn in his passport. At the time of this writing, Bolsonaro has fled Brazil for the US, where his brother already lives in political exile. It currently appears that US intelligence assisted him in his escape, and the State Department has indicated he will be granted a visa.
“¡Viva la Democracia!”
Regardless of the specifics of the vote tally, a seemingly planned prosecution by the nation’s highest court initiated mere minutes after an election is not exactly the mark of a functioning democracy. Nevertheless, congratulations poured in from every progressive part of the globe. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum expressed her excitement in a tweet:
“Viva la democracia, ganó el pueblo de Brasil. ¡Felicidades presidente Lula!” (“Long live democracy, the people of Brazil won. Congratulations, President Lula!”)
An ironic sentiment for a president about to serve his fourth term of office.
The leftist reaction to Lula’s win underscores a reality that has become impossible to ignore: “democracy” is simply a code word for left-wing rule. In the US, we’ve seen the word used obsessively by the left. “Our sacred democracy” elicits a religious dedication to a vague idea of “the people” deciding what government they want, but only when it aligns with their logical and moral insanity. Any left-wing victory is the salvation of democracy; any right-wing, the damnation.
The Bolsonaro Bulwark
To understand the intricacies of Brazilian electoral politics over the last several years, especially as they relate to Evangelical Christianity, it’s worth noting the rapid spiritual change that’s come over the country in the last several decades. Brazil, a traditionally Catholic country, has followed the same trend as many other Latin American nations – the percentage of evangelicals has grown very quickly. For perspective, the share of evangelicals in the country in the 1970 census was just over 5%, while the most recent census indicated almost 30% (2022). This number is electorally significant, as Brazilian evangelicals polled around 70% for Bolsonaro during the 2026 election season – at nearly 50 million people, they represent a significant voting bloc for a country of around 200 million.
But why do evangelicals show up when a Bolsonaro is on the ballot? Jair Bolsonaro, president of Brazil from 2019 to 2023 and Flávio Bolsonaro’s father, is married to Michelle Bolsonaro, an outspoken evangelical of a Pentecostal variety. The evangelical movement in Brazil is very much Pentecostal in nature, which drives theological inclinations, but also political ones. The lion’s share of evangelical political power is on the right, representing a specific political bulwark that opposes abortion and the LGBT agenda, supports Israel, and supports free-market economics.
Evangelical theology became a flashpoint in the lead-up to the election, when Bolsonaro said on video in August that he would “declare that Brazil belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ” when elected. His comment was interpreted by some as an indication that he would remove Brazil’s patron saint, Our Lady of Aparecida, in favor of Christ. Bolsonaro clarified that he had no intention of doing so, but the episode demonstrated the rising chasm between Latin Catholicism and growing evangelicalism.
The Evangelical Threat
As in the US, the evangelical population in Brazil, especially considering its recent, rapid growth, is viewed by the government and media establishment as a threat. Like other parts of the world with established religions (though Brazil is supposed to be a secular state), evangelicalism is seen by many as an American subversion designed to shift the country to the right and undermine the culture at large. With Lula retaining power in Brazil, it’s possible evangelicals could see an increase in targeted harassment and persecution. Like many other Latin countries, evangelical growth and its increasing popularity could lead to a more robust Christian culture and governance.
No matter what, conservative, Christian Brazilians are in for a long, hard road. The Lula administration, with allies in the country’s court system, has cracked down on political dissidents (most notably, the entire Bolsonaro family), banned open media platforms like Twitter, and recently made “homophobia” a crime punishable by prison. Lula is a self-proclaimed socialist who has previously praised Mao Zedong, Ayatollah Khomeini, Fidel Castro, and, believe it or not, Adolf Hitler. After returning to office in 2023, he immediately strengthened ties with Communist China. Given Flávio Bolsonaro’s flight from Brazil following the election, it seems like what may have been the last attempt at a democratic correction in Brazil has failed, at least temporarily. The path forward could be very grim.
A Light in the Darkness
Despite the rocky road that conservative Christians have had to endure over the last several years in the US, Brazil’s situation should cause us to express profound gratitude to God for our current situation. Whatever the faults of the Trump administration, our nation still shines as a beacon of justice, virtue, and sanity among nations that are sprinting toward darkness. Wicked rulers orient their electoral campaigns on opposing us, while more biblically aligned rulers run on copying us. When hope seems lost, America remains the place where it can be born again.
We ought to pray fervently for our Brazilian brothers and sisters in Christ. But we also ought to remain engaged in our own political process. If they are allowed to gain a monolithic hold on our government and institutions, our nation’s left will behave no differently than Brazil’s, as we saw during the Biden administration. We must exert godly influence in any sphere where we have influence, great or small. Finally, we ought to pursue and encourage personal virtue and robust theology, as a lack of character and a faulty orthodoxy will undermine our efforts even more than our adversaries.
First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. – 1 Timothy 2:1–4