Brazil’s Election Defies a Right-Wing Trend, and Trump’s Midterm Attacks Enter a New Phase

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva!

There, the leftist president, Luis Ignacio Lula da Silva, pulled off a remarkable re-election, ending a string of conservative wins across Latin America.

Over the last year and a half, seven right-wing presidential candidates have come to power there, including in Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, and Costa Rica.

But Lula narrowly held on to the presidency in Brazil, something few pollsters predicted.

He won out over Flavio Bolsonaro, whose father Jair Bolsonaro, a Trump ally, was convicted of attempting a coup after losing to Lula himself in the last election.

We're

going to ask for the cancellation of these elections.

This time, the son, Flavio Bolsonaro, has also refused to recognize Lula's victory, saying the rules changed, quote, in the middle of the game, after a judge ordered polls to remain open for an additional two hours yesterday.

Extra time was something both parties requested after transportation delays and bad weather disrupted voting.

But Flavio Bolsonaro now wants the election to be annulled.

Lula, speaking in front of cheering crowds last night, said that support for him was a demonstration that Brazil, quote, refuses to be anyone's backyard.

An apparent reference to the U.S., which has recently been trying to exert new levels of control over Latin America through tariffs, sanctions, election interventions and other means.

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva!

There, the leftist president, Luis Ignacio Lula da Silva, pulled off a remarkable re-election, ending a string of conservative wins across Latin America.

Over the last year and a half, seven right-wing presidential candidates have come to power there, including in Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, and Costa Rica.

But Lula narrowly held on to the presidency in Brazil, something few pollsters predicted.

He won out over Flavio Bolsonaro, whose father Jair Bolsonaro, a Trump ally, was convicted of attempting a coup after losing to Lula himself in the last election.

We're

going to ask for the cancellation of these elections.

This time, the son, Flavio Bolsonaro, has also refused to recognize Lula's victory, saying the rules changed, quote, in the middle of the game, after a judge ordered polls to remain open for an additional two hours yesterday.

Extra time was something both parties requested after transportation delays and bad weather disrupted voting.

But Flavio Bolsonaro now wants the election to be annulled.

Lula, speaking in front of cheering crowds last night, said that support for him was a demonstration that Brazil, quote, refuses to be anyone's backyard.

An apparent reference to the U.S., which has recently been trying to exert new levels of control over Latin America through tariffs, sanctions, election interventions and other means.