Brazil is the latest country to shift right: Conservative forces secure control of Congress
The Liberal Party ended election day with a victory that paves the way for the amnesty bill promised by Flávio Bolsonaro to move forward.
Flávio Bolsonaro after winning the first round of the 2026 Brazilian presidential election
Flávio Bolsonaro, son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, secured victory in the first round of Brazil's presidential election, garnering 47.06% of the vote compared to the 45.12% obtained by the current president, leftist Luis Inácio Lula da Silva. The two will face off again at the polls on Oct. 25.
Aside from Bolsonaro's victory in this first round, his party, the Liberal Party (P.L.)—which leans conservative—ended election day with great success, winning at least 85 of the 513 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and securing 19 of the 54 Senate seats that were up for grabs.
This balance of power could be decisive in passing an amnesty law that Flávio Bolsonaro promised to push for during his campaign, which could overturn the sentence imposed on his father.
The former president was sentenced to 27 years in prison for allegedly attempting a coup to overturn the results of the 2022 election. He began serving his sentence in November of last year.
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