Lula da Silva, staunch critic of Trump, scripts history with fourth presidential term in Brazil
The victory marks another comeback for the 80-year-old left-wing leader, who previously served as president from 2003 to 2011 before returning to power in 2022 by defeating Jair Bolsonaro.
PTC News Desk: Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has won an unprecedented fourth term, defeating Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, the eldest son of former president Jair Bolsonaro. The result reportedly went against opinion polls and came amid a wider rise in right-wing politics across Latin America.
The victory marks another comeback for the 80-year-old left-wing leader, who previously served as president from 2003 to 2011 before returning to power in 2022 by defeating Jair Bolsonaro.
Lula overcame public concerns over rising prices, corruption scandals and his government’s performance to secure another term. Flávio Bolsonaro, who finished first in the opening round of voting, had campaigned to revive his father’s far-right political movement. Pollsters attributed Lula’s victory partly to better-than-expected voter turnout.
Leonardo Barreto, co-founder of consultancy Think Policy, said voters had chosen a familiar political path over an uncertain alternative.
“People today are choosing between change, with some apprehension, and a known path, which guarantees certain rights,” he said.
Lula’s victory was not certain throughout the campaign. Some voters had become dissatisfied with his Workers’ Party because of rising prices and past corruption scandals. Changes in society and the growing number of people working through digital platforms also raised questions about his appeal among young voters and informal workers.
Comeback for Brazil's Left
During the campaign, Lula highlighted his government’s efforts to tackle poverty, inequality, unemployment, illiteracy and deforestation.
He also warned that a government led by Bolsonaro could reduce welfare spending, reverse social progress and increase Brazil’s dependence on the United States under President Donald Trump.
Lula’s victory is a setback for Trump’s administration, which had supported the Bolsonaro family’s political return. The result also prevents Washington from gaining another major ally among the increasingly influential right-wing governments in Latin America that share its positions on security and migration.
Celso Amorim, a former foreign minister under Lula, described the Brazilian president as a potential counterweight to the region’s shift towards the right.
“He would be very important for establishing a point of balance in Latin America. Lula is that balance,” Amorim told Reuters.
Lula’s political career has been marked by several comebacks. He was jailed between 2018 and 2019 over corruption charges that were later overturned. This allowed him to contest the 2022 presidential election, which he won against Jair Bolsonaro.
He also became the first candidate since Brazil’s return to democracy in the 1980s to win the presidency after finishing second in the first round of voting.
Conservative Congress poses challenge
Despite his presidential victory, Lula faces a difficult political situation in Congress, where the latest elections have produced Brazil’s most conservative legislature since the return to democracy.
Bolsonaro’s Liberal Party and its allies could control more than 280 seats in the lower house and up to 50 seats in the Senate. This could give the right-wing bloc a strong majority in both chambers and make it harder for Lula to pass his proposed policies.