Lula pulls off a historic comeback in Brazil and leads the left to victory over Flávio Bolsonaro

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, 80, Brazil’s president and one of the most influential politicians in Latin America this century, achieved the comeback he had been seeking on Sunday. Lula defeated Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, 45, the political heir to the far-right Bolsonaro clan, with 51.7% of the vote to 48.2%, a margin of four million votes. He has become the first president in Brazil’s history to win after losing the first round of a presidential election.

Only Emperor Pedro II and Getúlio Vargas governed the country for longer. The leader of the Workers’ Party (PT) has secured a fourth term, dealt a blow to the far right, and reaffirmed his political strength despite the deep animosity he inspires among many Brazilians. Lula, who turns 81 on Tuesday, will govern a deeply divided Brazil and further establish himself as a standard-bearer of progressive politics in the era of Donald Trump.

“I want to thank the Brazilian people for the generosity they have shown me for so long. I want to thank the young people who took to the streets to defend democracy, and the elderly who went out to vote,” Lula said in his victory speech at a hotel in São Paulo. “This election is a defeat for denialism and lies,” he declared, adding that it “shows we are nobody’s backyard.” The president, who last week began using the first mobile phone of his life, acknowledged the role that social media mobilization played in the outcome. “We overcame interference from abroad, from the digital platforms,” he said, referring to Instagram and WhatsApp’s alleged favoritism toward Bolsonaro.

Lula was still addressing the nation when Flávio Bolsonaro appeared in Brasília to call for the election to be annulled. “It is impossible to recognize the result,” he said.

Lula’s victory came after a nail-biting count, following a vote that was extended by two hours on a judge’s order. Lula had petitioned the courts after problems with public transportation and restrictions imposed in some cities. “We will not allow theft, nor mayors without scruples,” the president said. “These people have to learn to respect democracy.”

The extension of voting hours, ordered by a judge just minutes before the official closing time of the polls, sparked chaos and confusion. Polling stations closed at 7 p.m. Brasília time, and the count began with the country on edge as it awaited an uncertain outcome.

That chaos is likely to fuel doubts about the vote. “If they don’t stage a coup against us, we’ll win,” said Rafael Nunes, a 40-year-old electrical engineer, at a polling station in São Paulo. He was wearing a yellow Brazil national team jersey with Bolsonaro’s number 22 on the back. During the campaign, Flávio Bolsonaro raised questions about the reliability of Brazil’s voting system, though with far less intensity than his father, former president Jair Bolsonaro, who was convicted for attempting a coup.

The former metalworker and union leader who helped lift millions of Brazilians out of poverty fought for this victory until the very end, but governing may prove to be a nightmare. He faces a colossal challenge. Yet he learned from his mother, Dona Lindu, never to give up. Nor is he known for holding grudges.

He will govern a country split down the middle and confront a Congress in which the Bolsonaros’ Liberal Party (PL) holds a record majority and has the ability to shape the Supreme Court through judicial appointments. Brazil is also surrounded almost entirely by ideological adversaries, with progressive Uruguay the lone exception, while U.S. President Donald Trump is pressing ahead with efforts to expand U.S. influence across Latin America.

Under the slogan “Brazil Is Ready for More,” Lula has secured another term. This was Lula’s final election campaign. With Brazilian law barring him from seeking re-election in 2030 and with the president set to leave office at 85, the role of Vice President Geraldo Alckmin takes on added significance. A veteran of the center-right, the 73-year-old is a conservative Catholic and a longtime fixture of Brazilian politics.

Lula framed the campaign as a battle to defend democracy against the Bolsonaro clan, its brand of obscurantism and exclusionary politics, and the risks that movement poses for half of Brazil’s population. During the campaign, Flávio Bolsonaro promised to accept the election results. Whether he follows through or instead takes a page from his father remains to be seen.

Although Jair Bolsonaro never formally acknowledged defeat, he did ultimately allow the transition of power to begin. Yet just a week after Lula took office, a pro-Bolsonaro mob carried out the most serious attack on Brazilian democracy since the end of the military dictatorship.

Leandra Sena, a 45-year-old architect, told EL PAÍS that she cast her ballot “for democracy, because it’s all or nothing.” Fatima Aparecida da Silva, 69, arrived at her polling station in São Paulo wearing a red shirt — the color of Lula’s Workers’ Party. “If Flávio wins, repression will return. We already know what that looks like from the dictatorship,” she said, visibly anxious. She quickly added that Lula is not perfect, but “my children are who they are because of his public policies.” She was accompanied by her daughter, who works as a doctor.

Across Consolação Avenue, Kelly, 47, cast her vote wearing a T-shirt that merged the faces of Jair and Flávio Bolsonaro into a single portrait. Above them was the word “Right” alongside Brazil’s national motto, “Order and Progress.” “I voted for the father and now for the son. For security and for the family.”

Lula’s victory also deals a significant blow to Trump’s efforts to expand U.S. influence south of the Rio Grande. A streak of conservative victories, seven in seven elections, came to an end on Sunday. The two most populous countries in Latin America, Brazil and Mexico, are now set to serve as a progressive counterweight to the Republican president and like-minded governments in the region.

With Lula in power, Brazil is expected to remain at the forefront of defending multilateralism against the might-makes-right approach embraced by Trump. It is also likely to maintain its strategy of cultivating productive relations with both Washington and Beijing.

This emphatic victory was powered by abstentionists, the 33 million voters who did not take part in the first round. Lula urged his supporters to fight for every vote and to encourage citizens over 70 and teenagers aged 16 and 17 to exercise a right that is optional rather than mandatory for them.

In a fiercely contested race, Lula accused Meta, the owner of Instagram, WhatsApp and Facebook, of favoring his far-right rival. Even Brazil’s patron saint, Our Lady of Aparecida, became embroiled in controversy after a false accusation targeting Bolsonaro spread during the campaign.

In his bid for re-election, Lula unveiled a long list of high-impact measures aimed largely at women voters, a larger and more undecided electorate than men. He increased Bolsa Família payments by 15%, expanding the flagship cash-transfer program that supports 20 million low-income families and remains the Workers’ Party’s signature social policy. He also banned sports betting and online casinos by decree to tackle a growing crisis of debt and mental health problems, promised free weight-loss injections for people with obesity, and guaranteed up to six months of salary payments to victims of domestic violence.

The campaign was defined by a dead heat between the leftist president and the far-right senator. Opinion polls showed them virtually tied from the outset through the eve of the vote. Neither of the two televised debates proved decisive. The race began amid widespread voter apathy but ended with a remarkable surge in mobilization, particularly on the left after the shock of Bolsonaro finishing first in the opening round three weeks ago.

Lula and his team were aware that a runoff represented a serious danger. With most of the left already united behind him, the scope for attracting new voters was limited. But he succeeded by driving a huge mobilization effort, allowing him to overcome a right wing that had swiftly closed ranks behind Bolsonaro after the first round to try to oust Lula from power.

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