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Iran-backed media outlets have largely celebrated Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's October 30 victory over Jair Bolsonaro in the 2022 Brazilian presidential elections. After president-elect Da Silva – known as Lula – narrowly defeated incumbent President Bolsonaro in the runoff election, Iran-backed militias touted Lula as an ally of the "Axis of Resistance," a regional conglomerate of state and non-state actors aligned with Iran.
"Lula Defeats America While Wearing A Keffiyeh"
On October 31, 2022, a Telegram channel affiliated with the Iran-backed militias in Iraq posted a historical photo showing Lula visiting with Palestinian leaders and wearing a Keffiyeh.[1]
"The Brazilian leftist (Lula da Silva) defeats America while wearing a Keffiyeh," the channel wrote.
In a short post, the channel described outgoing President Bolsonaro as "a friend of America and Israel," and thus declared that Lula's victory is not in the "West's interest."
"The leftist victory is not in the interest of the West (America, Europe) and its supporters," the channel commented, continuing, "[The victory] is in the interest of Venezuela and its President Maduro, Columbia – whose elections the leftist president Gustavo Petro won – and in the interest of Brazil in the new world. With Brazil being a country that is a permanent member of the BRICS states, this political ascension suits global changes."
U.S. Organized Street Protests Against Lula
On November 2, 2022, one Telegram channel posted a historical photo showing Lula shaking hands with Iranian Supreme Leader Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.[2]
Commenting on news that Bolsonaro supporters were protesting for the Brazilian military to arrest Lula, the channel accused the U.S. of orchestrating popular street protests against Lula, who it described as being "close to the Axis of Resistance and a supporter of the Palestinian issue."
Lebanese Hizbullah: Lula's Victory "Devastating" For Trump, U.S. Republicans Who Supported Bolsonaro
Meanwhile, on November 1, 2022, the Lebanese Hizbullah (LH)-owned Al-Ahed News published an article titled "Victory for the Leftist Icon Lula ... The Wedding in Brazil and Mourning for Trump," in which it outlined outgoing President Bolsonaro's alleged close ties to former U.S. President Donald Trump and other Republican operatives and associates and argued that Bolsonaro's loss thus represented a loss for Trump-led Republicans as well.[3]
The article described Bolsonaro's loss as "devasting for the CIA man – the reaches of which were not limited to him, his team, or his supporters, rather they extended to the United States as well, where news of Lula's victory struck down like a lightning bolt on American Republicans and in particular former President Donald Trump and his close advisors."
It also reported on trips by "influential American Republicans" to Brazil aimed at supporting Bolsonaro as further evidence that the outgoing Brazilian President's loss will be "devastating" for American Republicans.
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