Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva won re-election after trailing Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro in the first round, a reversal that drew responses from regional leaders and U.S. President Donald Trump.
Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court (TSE) declared Lula the winner of the Oct. 25 runoff with 64,256,232 votes, or 51.79% of valid ballots. Flávio Bolsonaro received 59,826,041 votes, or 48.21%. In the Oct. 4 first round, Bolsonaro had led with 47.03% to Lula’s 45.16%, TSE results show.
The result was unprecedented in Brazil’s direct-election era, which resumed in 1989: AP and Folha reported that no previous runoff winner had entered the second round in second place.
Election-night congratulations to Lula came from Santiago Peña of Paraguay, Rodrigo Paz of Bolivia, José Antonio Kast of Chile, Daniel Noboa of Ecuador and Keiko Fujimori of Peru, El País reported. Colombia’s President Abelardo De La Espriella, who had backed Flávio Bolsonaro, recognized the result the next morning, the newspaper reported.
Brazil was Paraguay’s largest export destination in 2025, accounting for 31% of the country’s exports, worth $3.434 billion, according to Paraguay’s Ministry of Economy and Finance profile, which cites Central Bank of Paraguay data. The figures show the scale of economic ties between the neighbors.
Trump said on Oct. 26 that he had not taken sides, but told reporters the election “looked like another rigged election, frankly.” The Associated Press reported that he offered no evidence for the claim.
In July 2025, the White House said Trump signed an order imposing an additional 40% tariff on Brazil, bringing the stated total to 50%. The administration cited Brazil’s prosecution of former President Jair Bolsonaro and other disputes as reasons for the measure.
The Associated Press reported that Lula was expected to take office Jan. 5, 2027.
