Lula in stunning Brazilian presidential election win

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The run-off win by Lula came after he narrowly lost the first round vote to his far-right opponent Senator Flavio Bolsonaro.

The win stems the tide of wins in Latin America for US President Donald Trump-backed candidates.

Brazil’s electoral court announced that Lula won by around 4.4 million votes over Senator Bolsonaro, giving him 51.8 per cent of the total vote. 

Senator Bolsonaro quickly refused to concede defeat and asked for the election results to be annulled after a last-minute decision to extend voting by two hours, requested by Lula’s Workers’ Party because of problems with access to booths in certain areas. Mr Bolsonaro’s team had itself requested the extension in some states, however.

He said: “It’s impossible to recognise the results of the election in the context of these things that happened.”

Senator Bolsonaro is the son of former president Jair Bolsonaro, whom Lula defeated to take the presidency in 2022 and who is now languishing in prison after a failed coup attempt after the last election.

Speaking to thousands of his supporters on Sao Paulo’s main artery and in Rio de Janeiro’s Cinelandia Square, Lula described the win as “a defeat for denialism and lies.”

He doubled down on his commitment to Brazil’s sovereignty.

“Either the homeland remains free, or we die for Brazil,” he said. “This country will not accept being anyone’s backyard.”

Senator Bolsonaro beat Lula by more than 2.2 million votes in the first round of the election earlier this month. 

Sunday night’s victory by Lula marked the first time since Brazil’s military dictatorship ended in 1985 that the second-placed candidate in the first round won the presidency.

Britain’s Communist Party saluted a “victory for people power… which wrecks Donald Trump and Marco Rubio’s plans and blocks the advance of US imperialism…“It is an inspiration to all the popular forces worldwide that confront the tyrannical power of reaction.”

Leader of France Unbowed Jean-Luc Melenchon took to social media to point out that “10 out of 11 polls had Lula beaten in the second round. He won!”

Many world leaders were quick to congratulate Lula on his victory.

Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum said: “Long live democracy, the people of Brazil won.”

Cuba’s President Miguel Diaz-Canel said “this historic victory ensures the continuity of the path of peace, sovereignty and social justice embarked upon by the Brazilian people under your leadership.”

China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said China “was ready to work with Brazil to continue advancing the building of a China-Brazil community with a shared future.”

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said: “The comeback of global progressivism has just begun.”