Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, an outspoken critic of US President Donald Trump, was re-elected on Sunday in a result that maintains some distance between Latin America’s largest economy and Washington. With 100 percent of the votes counted, Brazil’s electoral court announced that Lula, who turns 81 on Tuesday, had a lead of nearly 4.4 million votes (51.8 percent of the total votes) over his opponent Flávio Bolsonaro. The announcement capped a night of chaos at polling places across Brazil, following a last-minute decision to extend voting by two hours. On Sunday night, Bolsonaro refused to admit defeat, calling the move an unprecedented extension of voting hours (although both he and Lula made the request) and calling for the election results to be annulled, saying they were impossible to accept. Addressing his supporters, Lula expressed his gratitude to the Brazilian people and pledged to respect all Brazilians, regardless of their gender or religion. He also attacked Bolsonaro. Lula supporters celebrate the election results in Sao Paulo on Sunday. (Amanda Perobelli/Reuters) “This was a defeat of denialism and lies. I must confess that every time I attended a debate, I felt ashamed,” he said. Lula also redoubled his commitment to Brazil’s sovereignty. “Either the country remains free or we die for Brazil,” he said. “This country will not accept being anyone’s backyard.” Lula’s victory bucks a trend in Latin America where a growing number of center-right presidential candidates allied with Trump have been winning, further extending US influence in the region. His victory leaves Mexico and Brazil, the two most populous nations in Latin America, with center-left leaders. It also positions the region’s largest economy, with a GDP of $2.6 trillion a year, to remain independent of the United States, despite the pressure of increased tariffs imposed by Trump. Lula supporters celebrate A video released by Lula’s campaign shows the veteran leader celebrating with his wife, Rosângela Lula da Silva, and his allies after Brazil’s electoral court confirmed his victory in the second round. Wearing red star-shaped glasses, he kissed his wife. Hundreds of his followers began to gather on the main artery of São Paulo to celebrate the victory. In Rio de Janeiro, cars honked their horns and a woman dressed in red, the color of Lula’s supporters, shouted “You lost! Cry harder!” four men dressed in yellow and green drinking beers, Bolsonaro’s characteristic colors. A loud roar echoed through the street when the result was confirmed. Lula supporters celebrate Sunday in Rio de Janeiro. (Lucas Landau/The Associated Press) Rodrigo Valentim, a 51-year-old businessman and Bolsonaro supporter, said another Lula government would hurt the economy. He pointed out the positive reaction of the financial markets to the result of the first round, when Bolsonaro defeated Lula. “I don’t understand how people can vote for Lula,” he said. “The country is collapsing.” Last-minute confusion at polling stations The electoral court’s announcement ended a night of confusion at polling stations after Brazilian Supreme Court Judge Cristiano Zanin ruled three minutes before the scheduled end of voting to keep polling stations open for two more hours, following requests from both candidates. Bolsonaro’s request was due to heavy rains in southern Brazil, where he is favored. In Brasilia, volunteers supervising vote counting at a school debated whether they should stay after the announcement to extend voting, but most left 15 to 20 minutes after the polls closed and they had given counting information to electoral authorities. People line up outside a polling station in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday. (Agustín Marcarian/Reuters) At a polling station in Rio de Janeiro, the voting machines had already been turned off minutes after the polls closed and could not be turned on again. The decision delayed the vote count by two hours. It was unclear how many polling stations remained open after the scheduled closing time. Bolsonaro ally Nikolas Ferreira noted that Zanin, who made the decision, is Lula’s former lawyer. Cost of living and safety are priorities for voters. Bolsonaro beat Lula by more than 2.2 million votes in the first round of the election earlier this month. Lula’s apparent victory Sunday night marked the first time since Brazil’s military dictatorship ended in 1985 that the second-highest voter in first-round elections won the presidency. Lula faced a tough battle for re-election due to concerns about the cost of living and security. Bolsonaro made tough-on-crime a cornerstone of his campaign and pledged to reduce food costs, while Lula, trying to appeal to undecided voters, has invested in expensive incentives. Presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro walks toward a voting booth at a polling station in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday. (Mauro Pimentel/AFP/Getty Images) Both have been hit by corruption suspicions involving family members and allies, with Bolsonaro implicated in a sprawling scandal rocking Brazil. Lula previously spent more than a year in prison for corruption convictions that were eventually overturned. This will probably be the last victory of the veteran leader’s political career. Lula began his political career in the 1970s as a union leader. He then helped found the Workers’ Party, which he represented as a presidential candidate three times until finally winning in 2002. He was re-elected four years later and was succeeded by one of his cabinet ministers, Dilma Rousseff, in 2010. She was re-elected in 2014. Rousseff was accused of accounting maneuvers in 2016 amid a sprawling corruption investigation, which also ensnared Lula. He tried to run for president again in 2018, but was jailed in March after being convicted. Members of the military police stand guard as people gather to watch the election results in São Paulo on Sunday. (Jean Carniel/Reuters) Lula was released from prison after 580 days and saw Brazil’s Supreme Court overturn his sentence after police found messages showing the judge who convicted him was biased. He quickly became one of former President Jair Bolsonaro’s biggest critics, narrowly defeating him in 2022. Since losing the first round, Lula reorganized his campaign, appealed to young voters, put millions of Brazilians on the streets to defend democratic values and his legacy, raised fears of another Bolsonaro administration and pushed several government initiatives. He joins Trump and Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, all in their 80s, as the oldest presidents in the Americas.
