00:00A Brazil's election campaign has sparked a wave of youth mobilization from student
00:05protests to digital campaigns.
00:06Just hours before the runoff, we look at the role young people are playing at this defining
00:10moment in a report by our colleague Belén de los Santos from Rio.
00:17The results of the first round of Brazil's elections defied expectations both inside
00:22and outside the country.
00:24The day also marked the beginning of a wave of mobilizations that would continue for weeks,
00:29with young people among its protagonists.
00:32Indeed, something new has emerged.
00:35Young people were apathetic during the first round of elections, as reflected in the polls.
00:40However, they have now started to mobilize out of fear that Flavio Bolsonaro might win.
00:46Within just a few hours, students in Rio de Janeiro organize themselves to take to the street.
00:51The student movement must lead this fight against six-day workweeks defending who get just one
00:56rest day.
00:57Brazil is at risk.
00:59A major process of destabilization is underway.
01:02And our wealth will continue to be taken abroad in an increasingly violent manner.
01:06Young women have been at the forefront of many of these mobilizations across different spheres.
01:15Young schoolgirls are witnessing the growth of the red pill movement on social media and
01:21the use of algorithms to promote hate speech and violence.
01:26They look up to left-wing women parliamentarians in the democratic camp, and they are the ones
01:30taking to the streets.
01:32Maira from the MST is part of this generation.
01:36In 2024, she became the first candidate from the Landless Workers Movement to be elected
01:41to Rio City Council.
01:44I come from a background in youth movements.
01:48I started out as an activist at the age of 16 in my own community of Jacarepagua.
01:55I then joined the student movement and realized that political struggle was what had kept my
02:00university open.
02:01As was the case for Maira two years ago, this election has also brought other young people
02:06into legislative office, many of them boosted by their activity on social media.
02:11One example is Rick Acevedo, who led the campaign to reduce weekly working hours recently approved
02:17by the Congress.
02:18That mobilization was entirely digital.
02:24It was led by Rick Acevedo, a young worker from Rio de Janeiro who launched a petition that
02:29gained significant traction.
02:32He subsequently became a city councilor and is now a federal deputy.
02:38Some believe this moment is part of a broader process of revitalizing progressive forces in
02:43the digital sphere.
02:44The far right is constantly mobilizing, whereas the left is not because it has not embraced
02:49the digital dimension as a structural part of its work.
02:51This is a new development that has emerged during the second round of voting.
02:56And once again, young people are better placed to take the lead.
02:59Young Brazilians are thus joining a global wave of mobilizations in response to the rise
03:05of the far right and its policies, which directly affect students and workers.
03:11Latin American history shows us that young people have always played a key role in major
03:16mobilizations.
03:17From the Cuban and Nicaraguan revolutions to the current protests against Miley's government
03:22in Argentina, young people have played a pivotal role.
03:26I think this movement generates a great deal of hope.
03:29It gives us the feeling that we can keep moving forward.
03:32But it is also the kind of hope that Paulo Freire taught us, hope as an active verb, hoping
03:37through action.
03:38On October 25th, Brazil's future will be decided, while the mobilizations of recent
03:44weeks have once again placed young people at the center of the region's political struggle.
03:49Francisco Zamudio, Belen de los Santos for Chalice of English from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
03:53So, we will continue to do this work.
03:53We will see you then.
03:53So, the next stage everyone lets you put those who will be in the middle.
03:53And you will see them.
03:53So, with the resistance of the movement.
03:54With the resistance of the movement we have about you, they will get a big span.
03:55So, the next stage everyone is working on a regular basis.
