By ELÉONORE HUGHES, MAURICIO SAVARESE and ANNA-CATHERINE BRIGIDA Associated Press
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, a vocal critic of U.S. President Donald Trump, was reelected Sunday in a result that provides relief to critics of widening U.S. influence in Latin America.
With 100% of the vote counted, Brazil’s electoral court announced that the soon to be 81-year-old Lula had a lead of nearly 4.4 million votes over opponent Flávio Bolsonaro, giving him 51.8% of the total vote. Bolsonaro quickly refused to concede defeat and asked for the election results to be annulled after an evening of chaos at some polling places that followed a last-minute decision to extend voting by two hours.
Bolsonaro is the son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, whom Lula defeated to take the presidency in 2022.
Lula’s triumph bucks a regional trend of victories for right-of-center presidential candidates allied with Trump. It also means Latin America’s largest economy, with a GDP of $2.6 trillion per year, will likely continue defying Trump’s demands, despite the pressure of increased tariffs.
Lula says Brazil is ‘not anyone’s backyard’
A video published by Lula’s campaign shows the veteran leader celebrating with First Lady Rosângela da Silva and allies after his runoff victory was confirmed by Brazil’s electoral court. Wearing star-shaped red glasses, he kissed his wife.
Speaking to his supporters, thousands of whom gathered on Sao Paulo’s main artery and in Rio de Janeiro’s Cinelandia Square, Lula expressed his gratitude to the Brazilian people, and pledged to respect all Brazilians, regardless of gender or religion. He also attacked Bolsonaro.
“This was a defeat for denialism and lies. I must confess that every time I attended a debate, I felt embarrassed,” he said.
He also 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.”
In Rio de Janeiro, cars beeped their horns and a woman dressed in red — the color of Lula supporters — shouted “You lost! Cry harder!” to four men in yellow and green sipping beers, Bolsonaro’s signature colors. A huge roar echoed in the street as the result was confirmed.
Rodrigo Valentim, a 51-year-old businessman and supporter of Bolsonaro, said that another Lula government would harm the economy. He pointed to financial markets’ positive reaction to the result of the first round, when Bolsonaro bested Lula.
“I don’t understand how people can vote for Lula,” he said. “The country is collapsing.”
Lula is set to begin his fourth non-consecutive term as president on Jan. 5, 2027.
Bolsonaro rejects results after confusion at polling places
The electoral court’s announcement ended an evening of confusion at polling places after Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Cristiano Zanin ruled three minutes before the scheduled end of voting to keep polls open for two more hours, following requests by both candidates. Lula’s request came after issues with buses that provide transportation to polls in Sao Paulo and Salvador, two cities that tend to favor the incumbent. Bolsonaro’s request was due to heavy rains in Brazil’s south, where he is favored.
The decision delayed tallying the votes by two hours. It was unclear how many polling stations stayed open after the scheduled closing time. Polling stations in Brasilia and Rio de Janeiro closed shortly after the original 5 p.m. deadline, reporters for The Associated Press observed.
Bolsonaro, whose father is serving a 27-year prison sentence for attempting a coup after he lost the 2022 presidential election to Lula, pointed out that Zanin is Lula’s former lawyer and criticized him for “changing the rules of the game in the middle of the game.”
“It’s impossible to recognize the results of the election in the context of these things that happened,” he said.
It’s not clear if Bolsonaro’s complaint could meet the legal threshold to annul the results. Bolsonaro also has the right to request a recount if he has evidence of fraud, but that might not change the results.
The president of the electoral court, Kassio Nunes Marques, who was appointed to the Supreme Court by former President Bolsonaro, said that the extension of voting hours did not impact results.
Joao Pedro Padua, a law professor at the Fluminense Federal University, said that Bolsonaro can file a lawsuit directly with the country’s electoral authorities or the Supreme Court, asking for the elections to be declared null and void.
“But there isn’t much legal basis for that,” Padua said. “The extension of voting hours is unusual, but for it to invalidate the elections, the candidate would have to prove that it affected voters’ ability to freely express their will. There doesn’t seem to have been any such impact.”
Lula overcame concerns about security and cost of living
Bolsonaro bested 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-highest vote-getter in the first-round elections won the presidency.
Lula faced a tough reelection battle because of concerns about the cost of living and security. Bolsonaro made a tough-on-crime approach the cornerstone of his campaign and pledged to bring down food costs while Lula, trying to lure undecided voters, has invested in costly incentives.
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 on corruption convictions that were eventually annulled.
This will likely 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 he finally won it in 2002. He was reelected four years later and was succeeded by one of his cabinet ministers, Dilma Rousseff, in 2010. She was reelected in 2014 but impeached two years later.
Lula tried to run for president again in 2018 but was jailed in March after being convicted. He was released from prison after 580 days and saw Brazil’s Supreme Court annul his sentence after police found messages that showed the judge who convicted him was biased. He quickly became one of Jair Bolsonaro’s biggest critics and narrowly beat him in 2022.
Since he lost 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 boosted several government initiatives.
He joins Trump and Nicaragua’s President Daniel Ortega — all aged 80 — as one of the oldest presidents in the Americas.
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Savarese reported from Sao Paulo. Brigida reported from Brasilia.