Trump critic Lula wins reelection in Brazil

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, a critic of President Trump and a champion of the Latin American left, won an unprecedented fourth term on Sunday in a runoff election against Flávio Bolsonaro, the son of Brazil’s former far-right leader Jair Bolsonaro.

“We made history in the streets and at the ballot boxes, with the people as the protagonists of a journey that still has a long way to go,” the president, commonly known as Lula, wrote on the social platform X. “Democracy prevailed, hope grew stronger, and Brazil moves forward. This victory is ours. And we’re going to do so much more together!”

Brazil’s electoral court announced that Lula led by nearly 4.4 million votes over Flávio Bolsonaro, with 51.8 percent of ballots cast.

Lula, who began his political career in the 1970s as a union leader and the founder of the Workers’ Party, campaigned on the cost of living and security in a country that has faced years of internal violence. He previously served as president from 2003 to 2011, before handing the presidency to Cabinet minister Dilma Rousseff, who was impeached in 2016.

The announcement of Lula’s victory came after Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Cristiano Zanin ordered polls to remain open for two additional hours, at the request of both candidates, with Lula citing transportation issues for voters and Bolsonaro pointing to flooding in his southern strongholds.

Bolsonaro quickly rejected the election’s outcome and called for the results to be annulled. He claimed that Zanin, a former lawyer of Lula’s, had changed “the rules of the game in the middle of the game.”

“I do not recognize this,” Bolsonaro told supporters, according to Al Jazeera . “There is no way I can accept this outrage that was committed against Brazil. I will take legal action and I will not give up on Brazil.”

Trump, who supported Bolsonaro’s campaign, has not commented on Lula’s win. But his son, Donald Trump Jr., criticized the outcome.

“If a conservative government in Brazil did this, everyone in the mainstream press in America would lose their minds, but I guess they’re just choosing to be silent because it’s all for the cause,” he wrote on the social platform X .

The State Department had previously sought to help restore the Bolsonaros to power in the lead-up to the election, Reuters reported .

Trump has often been compared to Bolsonaro’s father, who is serving a 27-year prison sentence for attempting a coup after he lost the 2022 presidential election to Lula.

World leaders heaped praise on Lula for his victory. One of Latin America’s few remaining left-wing leaders, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, congratulated Lula on his win.

“Long live democracy, the people of Brazil won,” she wrote on X .

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, in congratulating Lula, wrote on X that the relationship between their countries “has flourished under our partnership.”

“Let’s seize this opportunity to make it even stronger, together — to create major new trade opportunities, protect the environment, and build greater prosperity for both our peoples,” he added.