Lula defeats Bolsonaro. Cartoon from 26 October 2026 in CTXT
Lula da Silva, leader of the Workers’ Party (PT), will become president of Brazil for the fourth time after securing 51.8 per cent of the vote, compared with 48.2 per cent for the Liberal Party (PL) led by Flávio Bolsonaro, son of the coup leader Jair Bolsonaro.
In 2025, Jair Bolsonaro was sentenced to 27 years and 3 months in prison for taking part in an attempted coup following his defeat by Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in the October 2022 presidential election. Jair Bolsonaro thus became the first former head of state to be convicted of coup-mongering. He is currently serving a sentence of house arrest at his residence in Brasília.
On 8 January 2023, Bolsonaro supporters stormed the three seats of government in Brasília. Hordes of fascist supporters of Jair Bolsonaro stormed the Three Powers Square in Brasília and forced their way into the Congress building, smashing everything in their path – including works of art – and behaving like mindless thugs. This was very similar to – or a mirror image of – what happened on 6 January 2021 with thestorming of the USCapitol by Trump supporters.
Whilst various leaders are congratulating Lula, the international far right is either remaining silent or continuing to suggest that the election was rigged. They are putting out messages alleging electoral fraud or even vote-buying, as Flávio Bolsonaro himself claims. Even that sociopath Donald Trump has jumped on the bandwagon and spouted his rubbish: “It seemed to me like another rigged election,” he said.
A day after the results were announced, Flávio Bolsonaro claimed on Instagram that a judge had asked him to hand over his passport on suspicion that he might flee the country after losing the presidential election, as he is currently under investigation by the Supreme Court for alleged corruption and money laundering in connection with Banco Master and the alleged illegal financing of a film about his father.
The PT’s results should be seen as yet another barrier, given that, following this unexpected victory (Lula had lost in the first round), the far right will govern in most of Brazil’s 27 states. Working in Congress will not be easy either, as the far right also holds a majority there.
