Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, an outspoken critic of U.S. President Donald Trump, was re-elected on Sunday, a result that puts some distance between Latin America’s largest economy and Washington.
With 100% of the votes counted, Brazil’s Electoral Tribunal declared that the soon-to-be 81-year-old Lula would lead undisputedly. The news ended a night of chaos at polling stations across Brazil after a last-minute decision to extend voting by two hours. The Supreme Court judge’s decision could trigger legal action from his opponent, Flavio Bolsonaro.
His victory bucks a trend in Latin America, where a growing number of center-right presidential candidates aligned with Trump are winning, further expanding U.S. influence in the region. Lula’s victory brought center-left leaders to Mexico and Brazil, Latin America’s two most populous countries. It also allows Latin America’s largest economy, with an annual GDP of $2.6 trillion, to remain independent of the United States despite pressure from Trump to increase tariffs.
The announcement kicked off celebrations among supporters inside and outside a Sao Paulo hotel, where Lula watched the count along with first lady Rosangela da Silva, allies and friends.
If Lula’s victory is confirmed by electoral authorities, he will be awarded a non-consecutive fourth term as president. The next semester starts on January 5, 2027.
This is the first time since the end of Brazil’s military dictatorship in 1985 that the person with the second highest number of votes in the first round of elections has won the presidency. Bolsonaro received 47% of the vote in the first round, while Lula received 45%, a difference of 2.2 million votes.
Lula and Senator Bolsonaro have yet to address their supporters.
Sunday’s victory could be the final victory of the veteran leader’s political career. Lula began his political career as a union leader in the 1970s. He later helped found the Workers’ Party and ran for president three times on its behalf before finally winning in 2002. He was re-elected four years later and was succeeded in 2010 by Dilma Rousseff, one of the cabinet ministers. She was re-elected in 2014.
Rousseff was impeached in 2016 over accounting manipulation amid a wide-ranging corruption investigation that put Lula in hot water. In 2018, he tried to run for president again but was jailed after being convicted in March.
Lula was released from prison after 580 days, and Brazil’s Supreme Court quashed his sentence after police found information showing the judge who convicted him was biased. He quickly became one of former President Jair Bolsonaro’s biggest critics and narrowly defeated him in 2022.
Two years after taking office in 2024, Lula admitted that his government has done little so far to win over voters.
Since losing the first round of elections, Lula has restructured his campaign to appeal to younger voters, bringing millions of Brazilians into the streets to defend democratic values and his legacy, raising concerns about Bolsonaro’s return to power and pushing for several government initiatives.
Lula also defended Brazil’s sovereignty and insisted that a Bolsonaro presidency would allow the United States to exert control over the country.
He joins Trump and Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega (both 80 years old) as the oldest presidents in the Americas.
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Savarese reported from Sao Paulo. Brigida reported from Brasilia.
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