Belém, the capital of Brazil’s northern state of Pará and the door to the Amazon, elected a left-wing city government in the November 2020 municipal elections, with Edmilson Rodrigues of the Socialism and Freedom Party (PSOL) winning nearly 52 percent of valid votes. This unique victory of the Brazilian left, led not by a candidate of the long-established Workers’ Party (PT) that formerly held the Brazilian presidency, but by a rising force, PSOL, has not been widely discussed. It contains some important strategic implications for resistance in a time of social crisis and emergency.

Edmilson Rodrigues is a well-known figure in Belém. An architect, professor of human geography, and longtime deputy for the state of Pará, he had already served as mayor of the city from 1997 to 2005. In spite of this profile, the fake-news machine of Brazil’s extreme right nearly imposed itself on last year’s election. The candidate supporting President Jair Bolsonaro, Everaldo Eguchi from the Patriota Party, led a close race into the second round.

The risk that Eguchi might win led a range of Brazilian cultural leaders, from Chico Buarque to Caetano Veloso, to announce their support for Edmilson. Edmilson himself referred to the deep social crisis confronting the people of the city in the wake of his victory: