{"id":813987,"date":"2026-10-26T01:44:18","date_gmt":"2026-10-26T01:44:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/813987\/"},"modified":"2026-10-26T01:44:18","modified_gmt":"2026-10-26T01:44:18","slug":"lula-wins-fourth-term-as-brazil-president-after-historic-upset-over-far-right-flavio-bolsonaro-luiz-inacio-lula-da-silva","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/813987\/","title":{"rendered":"Lula wins fourth term as Brazil president after historic upset over far-right Fl\u00e1vio Bolsonaro | Luiz In\u00e1cio Lula da Silva"},"content":{"rendered":"

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.<\/p>\n

With nearly 99% of votes counted the 80-year-old leftist received 51.75% of the vote to his 45-year-old rival\u2019s 48.25%.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

But Lula did precisely that on Sunday, prompting joyous scenes on the streets of S\u00e3o Paulo, where he had been following the count, and at the hotel where he was watching the count.<\/p>\n

As the result was confirmed, Reginaldo Lopes, a key Lula ally, told the Guardian: \u201cI feel incredible \u2026 This is Brazil<\/a> telling the world that the extreme right is fascist, that the extreme right is against black people, is against the poor, against the state, against gay people … We are going to reorganize the democratic forces [in this country.\u201d<\/p>\n

The incumbent, who had lost by 2.2 million votes three weeks ago, has now won by 4.3 million.<\/p>\n

The 81-year-old leftist 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 farther from polling stations, the rate fell to 19.21%.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Lula\u2019s win is bad news for 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.<\/p>\n

Lula attends a closing campaign rally ahead of the presidential runoff, at Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Saturday. Photograph: Agust\u00edn Marcarian\/Reuters<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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 at the heart of S\u00e3o Paulo.<\/p>\n

Speaking at the Rio rally, truck driver Josias Silva said he said he was confident of a Lula comeback, after weeks of student-led anti-Bolsonaro protests.<\/p>\n

Lula greets his supporters after casting his vote in the presidential runoff election at a polling station in S\u00e3o Bernardo do Campo, Brazil, on Sunday. Photograph: Isaac Fontana\/EPA<\/p>\n

\u201cThe people have woken up \u2026 There\u2019s never been a demonstration like this one. This is the biggest protest in the history of Brazil. And we are going to win tomorrow with more than 60% of the votes,\u201d Silva claimed.<\/p>\n

Hundreds of Lula supporters returned to Paulista Avenue on Sunday evening to watch the vote count, waving red flags stamped with the face of the president.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel so very happy being here, and being here fighting for Lula,\u201d said Camilo Buarque, 35, as he watched Lula take an early lead. \u201cMy confidence comes from the energy and the happiness and the love of these people [around me]. This is democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy heart is beating a thousand beats a second but I\u2019m confident,\u201d said Ester Almeida, 28, another Lula supporter who was at the rally.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\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.<\/p>\n

But that alleged attempt to scupper a Lula victory failed.<\/p>\n

\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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Luiz In\u00e1cio Lula da Silva, the Brazilian president, has staged a dramatic election fightback, defeating his far-right opponent,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":813988,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[49,50,51,47,52,48],"class_list":["post-813987","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/813987","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=813987"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/813987\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/813988"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=813987"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=813987"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=813987"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}