{"id":228787,"date":"2026-10-26T12:13:07","date_gmt":"2026-10-26T12:13:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/lula-wins-historic-fourth-term-as-brazilian-president-in-defeat-of-far-right-flavio-bolsonaro-the-guardian\/"},"modified":"2026-10-26T12:13:07","modified_gmt":"2026-10-26T12:13:07","slug":"lula-wins-historic-fourth-term-as-brazilian-president-in-defeat-of-far-right-flavio-bolsonaro-the-guardian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/lula-wins-historic-fourth-term-as-brazilian-president-in-defeat-of-far-right-flavio-bolsonaro-the-guardian\/","title":{"rendered":"Lula wins historic fourth term as Brazilian president in defeat of far-right Fl\u00e1vio Bolsonaro – The Guardian"},"content":{"rendered":"

Leftist incumbent Lula says unprecedented comeback was a \u2018defeat for denialism\u2019 as Bolsonaro refuses to accept election result
Lula wins election in stunning comeback \u2013 live updates<\/a>
Luiz In\u00e1cio Lula da Silva<\/a>, the Brazilian<\/a> president, has staged a dramatic election fightback<\/a>, defeating his far-right opponent, Fl\u00e1vio Bolsonaro<\/a>, to claim a historic fourth term in power.
With 100% of votes counted the 80-year-old leftist received 4.4m votes more than Bolsonaro, with a 51.79% share to his 45-year-old rival\u2019s 48.21%. However, soon after Brazil\u2019s electoral authority confirmed Lula\u2019s victory, Bolsonaro refused to concede defeat and asked for the results to be annulled.
Lula narrowly lost the first round of the election to Bolsonaro in early October, casting his political future into doubt<\/a> and plunging progressive Brazilians<\/a> into three weeks of despair. Never, since the return of democracy in the 1980s, has the first round runner-up won the second vote.
But Lula did precisely that on Sunday, prompting joyous scenes on the streets of S\u00e3o Paulo, where he had been following events, and at the hotel where he was watching the count.
Addressing a packed crowd of ecstatic supporters in a S\u00e3o Paulo conference hall, Lula said: \u201cWe are going to change the way that this country is governed \u2026 This election was a defeat for denialism \u2026 I want to thank God and to thank you, Brazilian men and women of this country \u2026 it was democracy that made this happen.\u201d
After the result was confirmed, Alexandre Padilha, Lula\u2019s health minister, said: \u201cThis is a huge victory for the Brazilian people who in the second round had the chance to think about what President Lula means for the environment, for the defense of our national health service and our education system and the Brazilian constitution. And the risks that the extreme right candidate entailed.\u201d
\u201cIt\u2019s a massive victory \u2013 not just for Brazil. It\u2019s also an important signal to the rest of Latin America and to the world,\u201d Padilha added.
The 8o-year-old appears to have made up much of the difference through what his allies had identified as his main opportunity: persuading his voters to turn out. After a record abstention rate of 21.08% in the first round, which disproportionately affected Lula voters because they tend to live further from polling stations, the rate fell to 19.21%.
Speaking during Lula\u2019s victory speech, Bolsonaro said it was \u201cimpossible to concede the election result\u201d and that his legal team would seek to have the election annulled.
Following in the footsteps of his father, former president Jair Bolsonaro<\/a>, who four years ago also refused to acknowledge his defeat to Lula \u2013 before attempting a coup and being convicted for it \u2013 the senator cited a supreme court justice\u2019s decision to extend voting hours as the alleged reason.
His speech made no mention of the fact that his campaign had also asked the electoral court to extend voting hours, but he nevertheless said Justice Cristiano Zanin\u2019s decision to extend voting by two hours to 7pm \u201cwas not normal, it was unacceptable\u201d and amounted to \u201cchanging the rules of the game while the game was being played\u201d.
For Lula, who turns 81 on Tuesday, the victory represents a sensational final chapter in a storied political career that began when he emerged<\/a> as a union leader in S\u00e3o Paulo\u2019s industrial suburbs in the late 1970s.
After entering politics, the former factory worker who was born in rural poverty made three unsuccessful presidential bids, in 1989, 1994 and 1998, before finally becoming Brazil\u2019s first<\/a> elected working-class president in 2002.
Lula stepped down after the maximum two consecutive terms allowed by the constitution but returned to power after winning the 2022 election against Bolsonaro\u2019s father, then the incumbent president Jair Bolsonaro<\/a>, who was subsequently jailed for plotting a coup.
Lula\u2019s win is bad news for Jair Bolsonaro who is serving a 27-year sentence<\/a> for that botched power grab and was hoping to be freed and given a role in government had his son prevailed.
It is also a blow for Donald Trump<\/a>, the Bolsonaro clan\u2019s most important international ally. The US president had been hoping Bolsonaro would become the latest in a series of pro-Trump leaders to take power in Latin America, including Abelardo de la Espriella<\/a> in Colombia, Daniel Noboa in Ecuador, Jos\u00e9 Antonio Kast<\/a> in Chile and Javier Milei<\/a> in Argentina.
Confirmation of Lula\u2019s victory was greeted with anger and bewilderment in Bras\u00edlia, where Bolsonaro is living under house arrest and where his son watched the count.
On Sunday night, political leaders applauded Lula. Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum said: \u201cLong live democracy, the people of Brazil won. Congratulations, \u2060President Lula!\u201d, while Paraguayan president Santiago Pe\u00f1a said \u201cI salute the \u2060Brazilian people for this great democratic journey.\u201d
Lula\u2019s victory came after his supporters staged two massive shows of support<\/a> on Saturday, with more than a million people flocking to Rio\u2019s Copacabana beach and an even larger number marching on Paulista Avenue.
Many people on the streets of S\u00e3o Paulo were angry at an apparent attempt by pro-Bolsonaro politicians to derail the election by sabotaging public transport in Lula-leaning voting areas across the country.
\u201cI think it\u2019s another coup attempt that the extreme right is trying in Brazil. But we need to really fight so we can win,\u201d said Lucas Lopes, a 32-year-old from S\u00e3o Paulo who works with public relations.
But that alleged attempt to scupper a Lula victory failed.
\u201cI\u2019ll be sincere: in the first round the left failed. But in the second round they woke up,\u201d said Caio Marques, a 40-year-old photographer from Franca, a city in the interior of S\u00e3o Paulo state. \u201cAnd there is no coup that will take this away from us.\u201d
\u201cI feel so, so happy \u2026 There\u2019s not enough room in my chest for all this joy. Lula\u2019s victory represents so much. It means life for those who believe in love and in life,\u201d said Maicon Douglas Bento, a 34-year-old photographer, as he joined tens of thousands of jubilant Brazilians on Paulista Avenue at the heart of S\u00e3o Paulo.<\/p>\n

source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Leftist incumbent Lula says unprecedented comeback was a \u2018defeat for denialism\u2019 as Bolsonaro refuses to accept election resultLula wins election in stunning comeback \u2013 live updatesLuiz In\u00e1cio Lula da Silva, the Brazilian president, has staged a dramatic election fightback, defeating his far-right opponent, Fl\u00e1vio Bolsonaro, to claim a historic fourth term in power.With 100% of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":228788,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-228787","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228787","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=228787"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228787\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/228788"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=228787"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=228787"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=228787"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}