The right-wing Flávio Bolsonaro has won the first round of Brazil’s presidential election, beating the incumbent left-wing President Lula da Silva. But he did not obtain more than 50% of the votes required to win outright.
There will be a run-off vote between these two candidates on 25 October.
Flávio Bolsonaro is the son of the former right-wing president Jair Bolsonaro, who is serving a 27-year prison sentence for masterminding a failed coup attempt after losing the last election.
The election was close, with President Lula polling slightly ahead during the campaign. With 98.81% of the votes counted, Bolsonaro had 47.24% to Lula’s 44.91% of the vote.
Bolsonaro’s result exceeded expectations, meaning the second round now looks like his to lose, not least because some of the other presidential candidates who were knocked out in the first round were right-wing alternatives.
The majority of Latin America has now elected right-wing presidents, aligned to the Trump administration, and the run-off will determine whether Brazil – Latin America’s largest country and economy – will follow suit or not.
After casting his ballot, Lula, 80, warned that the choice was between democracy and “barbarism”.
Bolsonaro, 45, said he wanted to “free the Brazilian people”.