Get audio access with any FP subscription. Subscribe Now ALREADY AN FP SUBSCRIBER? LOGIN

Get audio access with any FP subscription.

ALREADY AN FP SUBSCRIBER? LOGIN

RIO DE JANEIRO—Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva won reelection by more than 3.5 percentage points in the country’s runoff election on Oct. 25, extending the career of one of the most significant leaders in the democratic world. Lula made history as the first Brazilian presidential candidate to come from behind to win a second-round vote. His victory also bucks a trend in a region where leaders have been bending to U.S. President Donald Trump’s pressure.

“This country does not accept a role as anyone’s backyard,” Lula said in his victory speech. “We speak, as equals, to everyone in the world.”

RIO DE JANEIRO—Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva won reelection by more than 3.5 percentage points in the country’s runoff election on Oct. 25, extending the career of one of the most significant leaders in the democratic world. Lula made history as the first Brazilian presidential candidate to come from behind to win a second-round vote. His victory also bucks a trend in a region where leaders have been bending to U.S. President Donald Trump’s pressure.

“This country does not accept a role as anyone’s backyard,” Lula said in his victory speech. “We speak, as equals, to everyone in the world.”

Lula defeated right-wing Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro with 51.8 percent of votes to Flávio’s 48.2 percent, according to official results. The head of Brazil’s election court congratulated Lula on his victory, as did many Latin American and world leaders. However, Flávio—the son of convicted former President Jair Bolsonaro—refused to concede, saying that he would seek to legally challenge the result because a Supreme Court justice extended voting for two hours.

Top Brazilian election judges believe that this challenge is unlikely to be successful since both Flávio’s and Lula’s campaigns requested prolonged voting hours in parts of the........

© Foreign Policy