Trump critic Lula wins reelection in Brazil, securing fourth presidential term

Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has been reelected on Sunday, marking a dramatic comeback after trailing in the first round of voting. According to Reuters Business via SCMP and the South China Morning Post, the Superior Electoral Court reported Lula received 51.76 percent of valid votes, while right-wing Senator Flavio Bolsonaro received 48.24 percent. The Korea Times reported that Lula held a lead of nearly 4.4 million votes over Bolsonaro with 100 percent of the vote counted.

The election followed an evening of chaos at polling places after a Supreme Court justice ordered voting to be extended by two hours. The South China Morning Post reports that Justice Cristiano Zanin, who was Lula’s lawyer before joining the court in 2023, issued the order following a complaint from Lula’s campaign regarding voter access in Bahia state.

The South China Morning Post further notes that many voting machines had already shut down when the order arrived, as the system does not allow closed machines to be reopened. This decision may trigger legal action by Bolsonaro, according to the Korea Times and ABC News (US).

Lula, a vocal critic of U.S. President Donald Trump, is soon to be 81 years old. The Korea Times and ABC News (US) state his victory provides relief to critics of widening U.S. influence in Latin America and leaves the region's two most populous nations, Brazil and Mexico, with left-of-center leaders. The result also positions Latin America’s largest economy, which has a GDP of $2.6 trillion per year, to remain independent of the U.S. despite increased tariffs imposed by Trump.

Brief written by urgent.news from The Mainichi, The Korea Times, ABC News (US), Reuters Business via SCMP, South China Morning Post — 5 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.