I’m pretty sure the liberal west would rather see Lula instead of Bolsonaro (who is Latin America’s Trump!). And besides it was not Bolsonaro who was behind the massive corruption scheme organized by the Workers Party (I mean either mensalao or have another sitting duck government, so it’s always lose-lose, but that’s beside the point).

between Lula and Kirchner, I’d rather have YOLO Bukele!

What makes you think the West would have Lula over Bolsonaro?

I come from a country ruled by a literal monarchy. That country is on very good terms with many western countries, such as the US. For the countries we aren't on good terms with, it's a question of geopolitics and trade.

A few years back there was a wave of revolutions in the area, that were touted as liberal (a lot of them really weren't). Oddly enough, there was little media attention, no agitation, and no support to that movement when it came to our country, even though we are even worse as a literal monarchy (in theory we have elections - they don't matter, think China but worse).

So it seems clear to me that the West will align with whoever is going to give better deals economically and geopolitically. In Brazil that's clearly Bolsonaro over Lula.

And of course there is plenty of corruption in Brazil. You can't root out corruption at the ballot box. It doesn't work like that.

The Economist (conservative British newspaper) was Lula's bitch while he was president, Lula was branded a leftist who brought capitalist prosperity, peace, and stability to Brazil. The Economist will forgive him his corruption in some Bagehot retrospective covering similar situations from the early 20th Century elsewhere and voilá, Lula will be anointed once more. He'll headline whatever is the new post-COVID BRIC.