It was a stunning comeback for the leftist former president and a punishing blow to Bolsonaro
\nSAOPAULO
\nBrazilian leftist leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva narrowly defeated President Jair Bolsonaro in a runoff election, but the far right incumbent did not concede defeat on Sunday night, raising concerns that he might contest the result.
\nThe Supreme Electoral Court (TSE) declared Lula the next president, with 50.9% of votes against 49.1% for Bolsonaro. The 77-year-old Lula\u2019s inauguration is scheduled for Jan. 1.
\nIt was a stunning comeback for the leftist former president and a punishing blow to Bolsonaro, the first Brazilian incumbent to lose a presidential election.
\n\u201cSo far, Bolsonaro has not called me to recognize my victory, and I don\u2019t know if he will call or if he will recognize my victory,\u201d Lula told tens of thousands of jubilant supporters celebrating his win on Sao Paulo\u2019s Paulista Ave.
\nIn contrast to Bolsonaro\u2019s silence, congratulations for Lula poured in from foreign leaders, including U.S. President Joe Biden, Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron.
\nA source in the Bolsonaro campaign told Reuters the president would not make public remarks until Monday. The Bolsonaro campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
\nBolsonaro last year openly discussed refusing to accept the results of the vote, making baseless claims that Brazil\u2019s electronic voting system was vulnerable to fraud.
\nOne close Bolsonaro ally, lawmaker Carla Zambelli, in an apparent nod to the results, wrote on Twitter, \u201cI PROMISE you, I will be the greatest opposition that Lula has ever imagined.\u201d
\nFinancial markets might be in for a volatile week, with investors gauging speculation about Lula\u2019s cabinet and the risk of Bolsonaro questioning results.
\nThe vote was a rebuke for the fiery far-right populism of Bolsonaro, who emerged from the back benches of Congress to forge a novel conservative coalition but lost support as Brazil ran up one of the worst death tolls of the coronavirus pandemic.
\nBiden congratulated Lula for winning \u201cfree, fair and credible elections,\u201d joining the chorus of compliments from European and Latin American leaders.
\nInternational election observers said Sunday\u2019s election was conducted efficiently. One observer told Reuters that military auditors did not find any flaws in integrity tests they did of the voting system.
\nTruck drivers believed to be Bolsonaro supporters on Sunday blocked a highway in four places in the state of Mato Grosso, a major grains producer, according to the highway operator.
\nIn one video circulating online, a man said truckers planned to block main highways, calling for a military coup to prevent Lula from taking office.
\nPink tide rising
\nLula\u2019s win consolidates a new \u201cpink tide\u201d in Latin America, after landmark leftist victories in Colombia and Chile\u2019s elections, echoing a regional political shift two decades ago that introduced Lula to the world stage.
\nHe has vowed a return to state-driven economic growth and social policies that helped lift millions out of poverty during two terms as president from 2003 to 2010. He also promises to combat destruction of the Amazon rainforest, now at a 15-year high, and make Brazil a leader in global climate talks.
\n\u201cThese were four years of hatred, of negation of science,\u201d Ana Valeria Doria, 60, a doctor in Rio de Janeiro who celebrated with a drink. \u201cIt won\u2019t be easy for Lula to manage the division in this country. But for now it\u2019s pure happiness.\u201d A former union leader born into poverty, Lula organized strikes against Brazil\u2019s military government in the 1970s. His two-term presidency was marked by a commodity-driven economic boom and he left office with record popularity.
\nHowever, his Workers Party was later tarred by a deep recession and a record-breaking corruption scandal that jailed him for 19 months on bribery convictions, which were overturned by the Supreme Court last year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It was a stunning comeback for the leftist former president and a punishing blow to Bolsonaro SAOPAULO Brazilian leftist leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva narrowly defeated President Jair Bolsonaro in a runoff election, but the far right incumbent did not concede defeat on Sunday night, raising concerns that he might contest the result. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":292795,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-292766","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n