Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva came from behind to win the country’s runoff presidential election, halting a right-leaning wave sweeping Latin America and defying predictions that the 80-year-old political veteran had finally reached the end of his extraordinary career.
The electoral court declared Lula the victor with 51.8% versus 48.2% for Flavio Bolsonaro, after a messy Sunday election rife with allegations of voter suppression and a last-minute extension of voting hours. It was a stunning outcome, one that will upend markets, eked out in the 11th-hour and that saw voters from Lula’s heartland in Brazil’s poorest region rally to the rescue of the leftist leader who has been the face of the region’s resistance to Trumpism.
But markets will wake up on Monday morning to the twin shock of Lula’s improbable win and Bolsonaro’s calls for the vote to be annulled. Signs point to a major rout and an intense selloff of assets. Investors had been banking on a Bolsonaro win to fix the fiscal accounts. Now they are bracing for extended political uncertainty.
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