Lula wins fourth term as Brazil's president, vows no return to dictatorship

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva won the runoff of the presidential election on Sunday, 25 October, defeating far-right candidate and senator Flávio Bolsonaro to secure a fourth term in office. The outcome is unprecedented in Brazilian politics: since democracy returned after the 1964–85 military regime, no candidate who lost the first round had gone on to win the second.

Lula received 64.2 million votes to Bolsonaro's 59.8 million, a margin of 51.79% to 48.21%. He gained at least 10 million more votes than in the first round in early October, which he lost.

In the early hours of Monday, Lula addressed tens of thousands of supporters in central São Paulo. “Democracy always, dictatorship never again. Democracy always, fascism never again,” he said.

Bolsonaro rejects the result

Flávio Bolsonaro did not accept the outcome and called it “sacanagem”, a Portuguese word that roughly translates as “bullshit”. His father, former president Jair Bolsonaro, also refused to concede after losing to Lula in 2022 and was later convicted of plotting a coup; he is serving a 27-year sentence. Flávio Bolsonaro is the subject of several federal police investigations over suspected misdeeds, including money laundering, which he denies. His Senate term ends in February, when he will lose parliamentary immunity.

International reaction

Leaders across the political spectrum were quick to recognise Lula's win. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum wrote that the people of Brazil had won, and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez spoke of a global progressive resurgence. Right-wing South American leaders, including Chile's President José Antonio Kast and Peru's President Keiko Fujimori, also acknowledged the result. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said democracy and multilateralism had won, while China's foreign ministry said it respected the choice of the Brazilian people. US President Donald Trump stayed silent; his administration had favoured a Bolsonaro victory and, before the vote, had been accused of trying to influence the result through economic and diplomatic pressure.

Former environment minister Marina Silva said the result would help preserve Indigenous territories and the Amazon rainforest in the world's most biodiverse nation.