Lula returns as president after tight run-off, Bolsonaro backs down
The 80-year-old beat Flávio Bolsonaro in a narrow second round. Bolsonaro's party now accepts defeat, after Trump claimed the vote appeared rigged.
Brazil's left-wing president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has secured an unprecedented fourth, non-consecutive term. In Sunday's second round he overtook the far-right Flávio Bolsonaro, who had beaten him in the first round, De Tijd and VRT NWS report. De Standaard calls it the least likely scenario, made possible because Lula managed to mobilise many voters who stayed at home the first time. Lula turns 81 today.
Bolsonaro initially refused to accept the result and demanded that it be annulled. On Monday evening his party nevertheless conceded defeat, Het Nieuwsblad reports, shortly after US President Donald Trump claimed that Lula's victory once again appeared to have been manipulated.
VRT NWS expects Lula to continue his social policies and to position Brazil as an autonomous country that does not follow Trump. The markets reacted badly: see our Economy article on the sell-off in São Paulo.