Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, a vocal critic Donald Trump, was reelected Sunday in a result that provides relief to critics of widening U.S. influence in Latin America.

With 100% of the vote counted, Brazil’s electoral court announced that the soon to be 81-year-old Lula had a lead of nearly 4.4 million votes over opponent Flávio Bolsonaro, giving him 51.8% of the total vote. Bolsonaro quickly refused to concede defeat and asked for the election results to be annulled after an evening of chaos at some polling places that followed a last-minute decision to extend voting by two hours.

Bolsonaro is the son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, whom Lula defeated to take the presidency in 2022.

Lula’s triumph bucks a regional trend of victories for right-of-center presidential candidates allied with Trump. It also means Latin America’s largest economy, with a GDP of $2.6 trillion per year, will likely continue defying Trump’s demands, despite the pressure of increased tariffs.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] 215 points 4 days ago (13 children)

Bolsonaro quickly refused to concede defeat and asked for the election results to be annulled

What a little bitch.

  • source
  • hideshow 13 child comments
  • [–] 89 points 4 days ago (10 children)

    4.4 million votes. No recount is going to fix that.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 10 child comments
  • [–] 5 points 4 days ago (6 children)

    I have no idea what the situation is like on the ground, but since we're talking about South America and the U.S. has Trump as president: A recount, no... but maybe a military coup.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 6 child comments
  • [–] 7 points 4 days ago (4 children)

    Brazil is much more capable to resist a US attack than Venezuela was

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 4 child comments
  • [–] 6 points 4 days ago (3 children)

    Let's hope you're right about that. I'm not so much worried about the U.S. itself as I am about the possibility that Bolsonaro Jr. might attempt a coup, just like his father... if about 50% of voters supported the autocrats, even a small amount of U.S. interference would be enough.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 3 child comments
  • [–] 5 points 3 days ago (1 child)

    Bolsonaro jr. is about to end his term as senator. He doesn’t have anything close to his father to attempt a coup. All he can do is cry. He’s just turned in his passport by court order because he’s under investigation on suspicion of committing several crimes.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment