World leaders were quick to congratulate Lula on his victory, showing global solidarity and support. US president Joe Biden described the election as “free, fair, and credible”.

While world leaders welcomed Lula’s win — a victory made all the more remarkable by the fact he was jailed by his political opponents just four years ago on discredited corruption allegations — and joined in the hope that Bolsonaro’s wilful destruction of the Amazon basin would be brought to a swift end, the defeated president himself has said nothing.

Lula’s jailing cleared the path for Bolsonaro to waltz home in the 2018 elections and he has singlehandedly divided the world’s biggest democracy, warning the Brazilian people during a bitter and divisive election that electing his opponent once more was akin to letting a thief return to the scene of the crime.

But since the result was confirmed, there has been nothing but silence from Bolsonaro and his team. Brazil and the world at large now waits anxiously to see if he makes good on his threats of refusing to give up power and claiming that there is a conspiracy between the courts and media against his far-right movement.

It is unlikely that Bolsonaro will quietly slink off into the night, but he is now, undoubtedly, a significantly diminished force and one whose singularly destructive vision for his country has been rejected.

Another four years of Bolsonaro would have had devastating environmental consequences, not just for Brazil, but for the whole world.

Two billion trees have been burned or cut down during his presidency — an area the size of greater London was lost in the first six months of 2022 alone. 

His policies on deforestation and illegal logging have turned the Amazon rainforest into a net emitter. 

Lula’s victory could cut Amazon deforestation by 89% over the next decade.

Brazil is the latest Latin American country to elect a left-wing president, joining Chile, Mexico, Peru, Colombia, Honduras, and Argentina, who have all favoured progressive parties over the political right, a sign perhaps that the day of the right-wing strongman is coming to an end.

From an Irish standpoint, the Brazil election was also notable in that the country completely facilitated its foreign diaspora in taking part. That meant some 8,000 of the 13,000 Brazilians living in Ireland participated in the election.

Why is it that Ireland cannot facilitate its wild geese in a similarly inclusive manner?