Stories that caught our eye: October 23 to 30

In a surprise turn of events, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was re-elected in the runoff election, defeating Liberal Party candidate Flávio Bolsonaro with a 51.8% to 48.2% margin. However, Bolsonaro's whereabouts became a point of interest, with Supreme Court justice Alexandre de Moraes banning him from leaving the country and he subsequently vanished, causing hours of mystery.

Bolsonaro eventually arrived in Miami aboard a flight from Puerto Iguazú in Misiones, despite earlier denial of his presence in Argentina by immigration authorities. The center-right PRO party congratulated Lula on his re-election, while President Javier Milei initially refrained from congratulating Lula, citing no such message from Lula in 2023. Milei's spokesman later confirmed no official congratulations from Lula, denying the accusation of Milei seeking asylum in Argentina.

Lula expressed gratitude to ex-president Mauricio Macri, reminiscing about civilised times of resolving differences. Milei was set to participate in the Ibero-American Summit with Lula, which would likely involve face-to-face encounters.

Meanwhile, President Javier Milei made an official visit to Catamarca, visiting a lithium mine and textile plant. He defended his RIGI incentive scheme for major investors, claiming it had zero cost, as projects not existing would not generate taxes, employment or exports. The case against him and his associates in the 'LIBRA' fraud trial was dismissed by the judge and prosecution, who deemed the promotion of the cryptocurrency as a private initiative.