In Brazil’s presidential election, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva made a comeback that was not supposed to be easy. After trailing in the first round, he defeated right-wing leader Flavio Bolsonaro in the second round. With this victory, 80-year-old Lula will become the president of Brazil for the fourth time. Lula’s victory comes at a time when right-wing leaders close to Trump are winning elections in many Latin American countries. His victory is also seen as a blow to US President Donald Trump’s growing influence in Latin America. However, this election was not just America versus Brazil. In which issues like inflation, crime, workers’ rights, nepotism and democracy were also important.

Voting was held on October 4 for the first phase of the presidential election in Brazil. In which Flavio Bolsonaro got 47.03% of the votes, while Lula got 45.16% of the votes. There was a difference of about 22 lakh votes between the two. After this, the second phase of voting took place on 25 October 2026. In the final results, Lula received 51.76% and Flavio 48.24%. Thus, despite trailing in the first phase, Lula won by a margin of not just four lakh but nearly 44 lakh votes.

After the first round results, many experts felt that Lula’s political innings might be over. The reason for this was that no candidate who did not fall behind in the first phase won the second phase and became President. It was also being said that pre-election surveys could not accurately estimate the support of right-wing candidates. But Lula appealed to his supporters to keep the faith and unite. After this he changed his election campaign strategy and increased contact with the youth.

1. The slogan of sovereignty, opposition to Trump’s policies

Lula’s strategy warned the US not to interfere in the election and said Brazil would not follow orders from any country. His message was that the country should take its own decisions. On the other hand, Flavio Bolsonaro promised to bring Brazil closer to America. His father Jair Bolsonaro has been an ideological ally of US President Trump. Flavio was also in favor of building closer ties with the White House.

Since last year, the US has imposed tariffs and other sanctions on Brazil. In such a situation, Lula criticized Trump’s aggressive foreign policy and made the protection of national interests an election issue.

2. Issue of work and leave of workers

Lula also emphasized workers’ rights in the election campaign. A few days before the second round of voting, on October 14, the Brazilian Senate approved a constitutional amendment to reduce the work week from 44 hours to 40 hours and abolish the six-day work week. The lower house approved it in May. The government estimated that the change would benefit over 3.7 crore employees. Its implementation process was to be completed in 14 months.

Lula called it a great achievement for the workers. According to him, reducing working hours will give people more opportunity to relax, spend time with family and take care of children. Significantly, his rival Flavio also supported this proposal after opposing it earlier.

3. Efforts to connect voters with relief schemes

At first, Lula’s election campaign did not seem very effective. But after the results of the first phase, he announced several relief schemes. These include measures like loan waiver, free public transport on weekends and financial assistance to poor students. Food prices and crime were also major issues in the election. Flavio promised to crack down on organized crime, cut government spending and cut taxes. The opposition accused Lula of using government schemes to gain votes. He said that this could worsen the financial condition of the government.

4. Resentment against the Bolsonaro family

Familyism also became an important issue in this election. Flavio is the son of former President Jair Bolsonaro. Jair Bolsonaro was convicted of plotting a coup after losing the 2022 presidential election. He is currently serving a 27-year sentence, although under house arrest for health reasons.

Flavio tried to bring together his father’s political supporters and advance the right-wing movement. But the question before him was whether voters were in favor of keeping power around one political family. Lula, on the other hand, tried to unite the people over the country’s future.

Lula’s old political comeback

This is not the first difficult comeback for Lula. He is a trade union leader and helped form the Workers’ Party. He was president twice from 2003 to 2010. In 2017, he was convicted in a corruption case and had to spend more than 18 months in jail. His sentence was later revoked in 2021, allowing him to contest the 2022 elections. He defeated Jair Bolsonaro in that election.

In 2026, Lula once again showed that being behind in the first stage does not determine the final result. He reached out to youth, raised labor issues, and emphasized Brazilian independence in the face of US pressure.