Foreign Interference: Zohran Mamdani Gives Last-Minute Boost to Brazil's Lula

Socialist New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) congratulated the government of Brazil on Wednesday for passing a labor law that reduces the work week to 40 hours, applauding socialist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva just days before the country’s presidential election. Mamdani notably stopped short of endorsing Lula against conservative rival Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro, potentially seeking to avoid accusations of foreign interference in the Brazilian election at a time when Democrats are issuing scandalized statements condemning foreign leaders, even those with American citizenship, for expressing preferences in the American midterm elections. Mamdani does not appear to have given Bolsonaro similar time to discuss his policies personally, however, or otherwise involved himself in the Brazilian election. Voters in Brazil will go to the polls on Sunday to choose between Lula and Bolsonaro, the two top candidates in the first round of voting in early October. In Brazil, presidents can only be elected in one round of voting if they won 50 percent or more of the vote; Bolsonaro won the election on October 4 but with only 47 percent of the vote. Lula, on the cusp of 81 years of age, is campaigning for a fourth term in office against the son of the last candidate to have defeated him in a presidential race, former President Jair Bolsonaro. Lula’s government imprisoned Jair Bolsonaro on dubious charges of “crimes against democracy” shortly after Lula’s 2022 win and has legally barred him from running for office. Mamdani’s statement about Lula omitted any electoral context, instead applauding Lula’s government for imposing fixed limits on the length of the work day and week in the country. “One month ago, I sat down with President Lula to discuss how government serving poor and working people. Weeks later, Brazil took a historic step: a 40-hour workweek, at least two days off and no cuts to pay for more than 30 million workers,” Mamdani wrote. “Workers fought for decades to win the five-day workweek in America. Brazilian workers have fought for this victory, too. I congratulate them on this achievement,” he continued. “Working people deserve time to live, not just work. Building a better future means giving people more of their lives back. And we’ll keep fighting for it.” The law Mamdani is celebrating was passed by the Brazilian Senate on October 14, a full week before Mamdani chose to comment on it. The legislation is a constitutional amendment that asserts the maximum legal work week in the country can only be 40 hours long, compared to the previous 44-hour limit, which stretched workers into a sixth day. The law also requires a minimum of two days off for workers. It is expected to benefit 26.8 million workers, according to Brazilian state media, and is expected to be implemented in December. The meeting between Lula and Mamdani occurred in late September as the Brazilian president arrived in New York to attend the annual high-level talks at the United Nations General Assembly. As per tradition, Brazil is always the first country to speak at the General Assembly in recognition of its volunteering to be first during the very first such session, in the tense aftermath of World War II. The meeting was also attended by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), arguably America’s most longstanding and recognizable socialist politician. Sen. Sanders published a statement about the meeting almost immediately after it occurred, including photos of the two and a flattering portrayal of Lula–who was convicted on charges of corrupt actions while serving as president–as a fighter of poverty. The international support for Lula follows his defeat in the first round of the presidential race and rumors that he is seeking more celebrity support. Rumors online claimed that his campaign has reached out to American celebrities previously friendly to him, such as actors Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo, for support. Those rumors also claimed Lula reached out to Mamdani. Ruffalo, an actor best known for playing The Hulk, was a surprisingly prominent advocate for Lula during the 2022 election, accusing Jair Bolsonaro of environmental malfeasance. Ruffalo appeared virtually at a Lula campaign rally in September 2022, joking that he did not speak “Brazilian” and claimed a Bolsonaro win would have “global consequences.” “Of course, we have our own problems here in America and I know how difficult it is to make these decisions,” he said at the time, “but we are living in a world that is more and more interconnected, especially as we fight climate change.” “Right now the rainforest is of utmost importance in its health and its size … so there’s a global implication to your election that I am asking you to consider,” he continued, “and what happens to the rainforest and the indigenous people that are there will impact the rest of the world for millennia to come and right now the leader that is best positioned to protect the rainforest is Lula.” By August 2023, Ruffalo was publicly expressing remorse for supporting Lula, declaring himself “heartbroken” that the socialist had not, in fact, taken significant environmental action as Ruffalo had hoped. Ruffalo was especially critical of an environmental declaration originating at a summit of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO) that, according to him, “has no concrete goals to protect the rainforest.” Follow Frances Martel on Facebook and Twitter.