The closest elections in Brazil's democratic history have resulted in the narrow victory of socialist Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who beat his right-wing opponent Jair Bolsonaro, in the second round of the presidential election, held this Sunday, by less than two points: 50.9% vs. 49%. In votes, the leader of the Workers' Party has won just two million more than the leader of the Liberal Party: 60 million vs. 58.
Da Silva has barely managed to improve on his first round results when he obtained 48.4% of the votes (57.2 million); the opposite of Bolsonaro, who most recently has been riding the wave of a great resurgence, obtaining 7 million votes more than last October 2, when he obtained 43.2% of the votes.
With his victory on Sunday, Da Silva returns to power in Brazil after 12 years. His first term of office was from January 1, 2003 to December 31, 2010.
Da Silva, who just turned 77 years old (last October 27), is the only Brazilian president who has ever been jailed for corruption. In 2021, a judge close to his Workers' Party annulled all the sentences handed down against him, allowing him the freedom to run again for the presidency of the country.
As for Bolsonaro, he is the first Brazilian president ever to fail at being reelected.
