The president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, called on young Brazilians to recruit more people to the socialist cause after seeing that the newly elected president of Argentina, libertarian Javier Milei, received the support of 65% of voters between 16 and 24 years old.
During the opening of the IV National Youth Conference held in Brasilia, the socialist leader seemed intimidated by the effect Milei has had in Argentina and assured that the best thing for Brazil is to indoctrinate the youngest and "train more people on the left":
Let's argue with those who are not like us. We are going to politicize this country, we are going to form new socialists in this country, we are going to form more left-wing people in this country.
"How are we going to compete in the political formation of that youth that is abandoned in the periphery, being violated every day with the 'fake news' industry?" added Lula da Silva, alluding to the influence that manipulated and biased information has on young voters, mostly on social media. "When are we going to leave the algorithm and be humanistic, supportive and fraternal? That's missing from all of us."
The Brazilian president resorted to the populist rhetoric his citizens know so well in the conclusion of his statement at the conference:
The challenge is to build a cause to transform this country into a great, respected country, where everyone has the right to study, to work, to have access to culture ... We need to be human again. Don't waste your youth doing insignificant things, use the energy to strengthen this country.
In Brazil, people as young as 16 can vote in elections. In the 2022 census, the population aged 15-19 was 14,375,942, while those aged 20-24 were 15,466,463.
