Lula wins fourth term in Brazil as Flávio Bolsonaro refuses to concede

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva won reelection Sunday, defeating Flávio Bolsonaro in a runoff, while his opponent declined to accept the outcome and sought to have it annulled.

With all votes counted, Brazil's electoral court declared Lula the winner with 51.8% of the vote, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer, which reported his margin at nearly 4.4 million votes. 6abc Action News put Bolsonaro's share at 48.2%.

Bolsonaro, son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, objected to a last-minute ruling by Supreme Court Justice Cristiano Zanin. The Inquirer reported that Zanin extended voting by two hours, three minutes before polls were due to close, after requests from both campaigns. Lula's side cited bus problems in São Paulo and Salvador. Bolsonaro's side cited heavy rain in the south.

Bolsonaro noted that Zanin previously served as Lula's lawyer and accused him of "changing the rules of the game in the middle of the game," the Inquirer reported. The electoral court's president, Kassio Nunes Marques, a Supreme Court appointee of Jair Bolsonaro, said the extension did not affect the results. A law professor told the Inquirer there was little legal basis for annulment.

The Inquirer reported that Lula, who turns 81 soon, will begin his fourth non-consecutive term on Jan. 5, 2027. It also reported that he is the first candidate since military rule ended in 1985 to win the presidency after finishing second in the first round, in which Bolsonaro led by more than 2.2 million votes.

Speaking to supporters in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, Lula stressed national sovereignty. "This country will not accept being anyone's backyard," he said, according to the Inquirer.

6abc Action News reported that the result ends a run of seven straight conservative presidential victories in Latin America over 18 months and limits U.S. President Donald Trump's efforts to build regional alliances. Flávio Bolsonaro had pledged to join a U.S.-led security coalition against cartels, which Brazil has resisted. Analysts quoted by 6abc said tariffs Trump imposed over Brazil's prosecution of Jair Bolsonaro in connection with a coup plot fueled a nationalist backlash that Lula used in his campaign. The elder Bolsonaro is serving a 27-year prison sentence, the Inquirer reported.

According to 6abc, Washington is also interested in Brazil's rare earth reserves, the world's second-largest known, and its niobium, of which Brazil produces about 90% of global supply, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Lula's government has moved to tighten oversight of critical minerals.

Lula faces constraints at home. 6abc reported that conservatives gained seats in Brazil's Congress in the Oct. 4 elections, and voters remain concerned about crime and living costs.

Compiled by True News from reporting by 6abc Action News and The Philadelphia Inquirer. Each outlet's original story is linked below.

Originally published by True News: https://truenews.bagleyenterprises.net/stories/479