Lula’s victory may be a turning point for Latin America

Guillaume Long is a senior policy analyst at the Center for Economic and Policy Research. At 80, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has pulled off an extraordinary political victory. After losing the first round to Flavio Bolsonaro, son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, by 47 percent to 45 percent, Lula defied the odds to secure a stunning second-round victory, with 51.8 percent of the vote against Bolsonaro’s 48.2 percent. His triumph confounded every pre-election poll and crowned a dramatic campaign revival that few had anticipated. Lula’s victory in Latin America’s largest country does more than halt the far right’s return to power in Brazil.