Archive of Oliver Basciano

During his lifetime, the Brazilian footballer Pele came to stand as an international symbol of Brazil: a nation of sport and glamour. Yet at his death at the end of December, coming just days before the inauguration of the third presidency of Lula, and a little over a week before thousands of Bolsonaro supporters stormed the parliament building in Brasília, Brazil stands as a nation deeply divided, Oliver Basciano writes.

On Sunday 30th October Lula, the leader of the Brazilian Workers' Party, marked a remarkable political comeback, winning a third term as Brazilian president over the right-wing incumbent, Jair Bolsonaro. But as Oliver Basciano writes, the Brazil Lula will now lead is a very different one from that of his first term in 2003, with fresh challenges ahead for the Brazilian left.