Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s victory over Flávio Bolsonaro in Sunday’s presidential election, winning 51.8% to 48.2%, snapped an 18-month streak of seven consecutive conservative presidential wins in Latin America, denying the region’s resurgent right a major prize.
The outcome limits U.S. President Donald Trump’s efforts to solidify influence across the Western Hemisphere and establishes Latin America’s largest economy and most populous country as a counterweight to Washington. A Flávio Bolsonaro victory would have left Mexico’s Claudia Sheinbaum as the sole progressive leader among the region’s principal powers.
