Da Silva wins the tight race for presidency

The question is how Bolsonaro reacts now that he has suffered a defeat. The president has repeatedly indicated that the Brazilian electoral system is prone to fraud, without providing hard evidence for it. He also said he would not accept a loss.

U.S. president Joe Biden congratulated Lula on his victory in what he called a “free, fair and credible” election. French president Emmanuel Macron also immediately congratulated Lula and said he expected France and Brazil to tighten their friendly ties in the near future.

There were concerns on Sunday that voters in the poor northeast of the country, where Lula’s support is strongest, were prevented from voting. The police, who critics say are on Bolsonaro’s side, allegedly set up illegal roadblocks for buses carrying voters. However, according to Alexandre de Moraes, the head of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE), no one was prevented from voting and all police operations on the roads had been stopped. “The only problem for the voters was that they were delayed,” Moraes said. He announced investigations into police activities on Election Day.

For Lula, his victory is a spectacular comeback. The 77-year-old politician already ruled Brazil between 2003 and 2010 and was popular at the time, but was then linked to a major corruption scandal. He even spent a year and a half in prison for that. In March this year, the Supreme Court reversed his conviction, because the judge would have been biased. That Judge, Sergio Moro, later became justice minister under Bolsonaro.

Lula has vowed to return to the social policies that lifted millions of Brazilians out of poverty in his previous term as president. He has also pledged to stop the destruction of the Amazon and even make Brazil a global leader in combating climate change.

Louise Roth is the youngest member of WeeklyNewsReview team. Despite the young age Louise is interested in serious topics. Her main interests and education is all about economics and politics. But in our team she is the most productive do-it-all member, so she has to write on a variety of topics.