Afrasianet - Dr. Hussein Majdoubi - On Sunday, October 25, 2026, Brazil witnessed a presidential election that attracted the attention of the world, due to its repercussions on international relations, especially in the Latin American region, and resulted in the victory of President Lula da Silva for the fourth time and the defeat of the nationalist right, which is a victory for the voice of just causes in the world.
Lula da Silva won the second round of the presidential election in Brazil, with a margin of nearly three points over his fierce rival Flavio Bolsonaro (51.79% vs. 48.21%), which translates, in terms of votes, a difference of nearly five million votes, knowing that he came in second place in the first round.
Thus, President Lula will serve his fourth presidential term, after the first two terms between 2003 and 2010, then his return to the presidency in 2023, and the next term, which will officially begin in early 2027. He is the first politician to hold the presidency in a democratic manner four times in the history of Brazil, as well as in Latin America.
In practice, these elections attracted the attention of international public opinion, highlighting the weight that Brazil has become a representative in international relations, beyond its regional surroundings in Latin America to the world.
The elections are considered an important turning point in Brazilian political life, as they prevented the return of the nationalist right to the presidency of the country, after Jair Bolsonaro had taken office and wanted to carry out a coup against electoral legitimacy in 2023, by rejecting the results and refusing to hand over the presidency to Lula.
Now, his son Flavio is taking over, after announcing the rejection of the results of the presidential elections. Flavio tried to play the role of a conservative politician rather than an extremist, but his rejection of the results puts him on the side of his father, who tried to carry out the coup in January 2023.
Brazilian political scientist André Sanger of the University of São Paulo highlights that the biggest challenge facing Lula da Silva in his new term is to unify Brazil and isolate the extreme nationalist right, which has caused a rift within society. At the same time, those interested in political life in this country believe that Lula da Silva must prepare the ground for the emergence of new leftist leaders, so that the left does not collapse with his departure in the coming years.
The response to these challenges depends on listening to the concerns of Brazilians and paying attention to social life. In its editorial, Brazil's largest newspaper, Volha, argues that President Lula has made mistakes in his current term, and that he should "not look for popularity, but for the common good," and called on him not to repeat the mistakes of applying the policies of the past in Brazil today, which is living in a different context.
At the international level, these elections are of great importance in line with Brazil's weight in international relations. This victory is a fairness to the progressive left and liberals against the conservative right, especially the extreme nationalist right. At the regional level, South America has leaned toward the conservative right in recent years, as in the case of Chile, and toward the extreme and anarchist right in Argentina with President Javier Mille.
If Flavio Bolsonaro had won these elections, the region would have had one political color, right-wing extremism, which goes back to the 1960s and 1970s, when there was only one political color that ruled the region, namely military rule.
Internationally, these elections are considered a barrier to the Trump phenomenon in Latin America, as Washington launched a campaign against Lula da Silva, and more dangerously, social media networks, mainly Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, played a dangerous role after they limited and besieged the accounts of President Lula and his party, while favoring the accounts of his ultra-nationalist rival.
Brazil considered Meta's behavior as foreign interference in the elections, specifically direct American interference, and referred the file to the Organization of American States.
This victory means a defeat of the Monroe Doctrine, which the Trump administration is trying to apply in the Americas, by encouraging the conservative or extreme nationalist right. Internationally, Lula da Silva's continuation is considered a continuation of a fair political voice in international relations, especially the Palestinian issue.
This president was among the most daring when he said, on February 18, 2024, that what is happening in Gaza "is not a war, but a genocide," adding that "what is happening to the Palestinian people has not happened at any other historical moment except when Hitler decided to kill the Jews." His position on the Palestinian issue is among the boldest in the world, at a time when a number of Arab and Muslim leaders have gone into hiding in this file.
He also rejected the West's request to support Ukraine with weapons in 2023, and rejected the Russian invasion of this country. He did not hesitate to reject and condemn the US-Israeli war against Iran, commenting, "This war threatens to turn the Middle East into a single battlefield, with incalculable global consequences."
If US President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu are among the most prominent losers internationally, the big winners are China and Russia, because Lula's continuation means the continued strength and development of the BRICS group, especially since Brazil is one of its founding countries.
The European Union remains among the winners, because it guarantees a strong voice in the Americas, along with Canada and Mexico, in the face of the pressures of Trump's policy. Lula da Silva's victory is a victory for a balanced political voice that supports just causes in the world, and this voice may be strengthened next month if he succeeds The US Democratic Party is in the process of winning the midterm elections, as well as the victory of the left in Spain on the 29th of next month.
