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“This Election Was a Defeat for Lies”: Read Lula’s Inspiring Victory Speech

“I doubt that Russia, China, or the United States has an army as victorious as the army of democracy of this country,” the president told his supporters.

On Sunday, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva won a record fourth term in office, defeating far-right challenger Flávio Bolsonaro. After his victory was declared, Lula addressed a cheering crowd of supporters in São Paulo. Here are some excerpts from that speech, as translated by longtime Nation contributor Greg Grandin.

I wanted to thank the Brazilian people for their generosity, those who stayed with me through the length of this runoff. I want to thank the generosity of the young, who took to the streets to defend democracy. I want to thank the elderly. I know that many of them were urged on by their grandchildren to vote for me. People with cancer, people with limited mobility, with other kinds of illness. And you went to vote. It will be very important to assure them that their vote was worth it, that it will safeguard democracy in this country.

I want to thank society as a whole, which is the real winner of this election. This is an election in which we prevailed over outside interference, especially by digital platforms, which we are going to have to regulate. We need to understand that crime in the digital world will be treated as crime in the real world. We can’t have monstrous, giant companies earning millions and billions, paying no taxes to this country, and trying to influence electoral results.

This election was a defeat for denialism, a defeat for lies. And I confess that every time there was a debate, I felt embarrassed, because I’ve debated with a lot of people. I’ve taken part in many elections. I meet every year with the G20, the BRICS, the G7. I meet every year with the leaders of the world. And we discuss the........

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