World leaders rush to congratulate Lula on Brazil election victory

Leaders from around the world have been quick to offer congratulations to Brazil’s president-elect, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, known as Lula, after his narrow victory over the far-right incumbent, Jair Bolsonaro.

Bolsonaro had cast doubt on the voting process leading up to the bitterly divisive election, and hinted he might reject the outcome if he lost. He has yet to concede.

In a statement, the US president, Joe Biden, strongly backed the legitimacy of the result, congratulating Lula “following free, fair, and credible elections”.

“I look forward to working together to continue the cooperation between our two countries in the months and years ahead,” he said.

Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, said on Twitter: “The people of Brazil have spoken,” adding that he looked forward to working with Lula “to strengthen the partnership between our countries, to deliver results for Canadians and Brazilians, and to advance shared priorities – like protecting the environment”.

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, also offered his good wishes, saying the poll opened “a new page” in Brazil’s history. “Together, we will join forces to take up the many common challenges and renew the ties of friendship between our two countries,” he said on Twitter, minutes after the announcement of the final election results.

All eyes have been on the outcome of the election, with the future of the Amazon rainforest and its impact on the global climate emergency at stake. With 156 million voters, Brazil is one of the world’s largest democracies.

Lula celebrates after declared winner in election – video

Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, said Brazil had “decided to bet on progress and hope”.

The German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, said in a tweet that he looked forward to cooperating with Lula, especially on trade and climate protection.

Australia’s prime minister, Anthony Albanese, who recently secured his own leftwing victory, tweeted: “Huge congratulations to @LulaOficial on a tremendous victory in the Brazilian elections. Look forward to working with you on protecting our global environment.”

Norway said it would resume sending Amazon protection subsidies to Brazil, which it had halted in 2019 under Bolsonaro.

“We had a good and very close collaboration with the government before Bolsonaro, and deforestation in Brazil declined greatly under Lula da Silva’s [previous] presidency”, the environment minister Espen Barth Eide, told Agence France-Presse. “Then we had a head-on collision with Bolsonaro, whose approach was diametrically opposed when it came to deforestation.”

Rishi Sunak, the British prime minister, also congratulated Lula and said he looked forward to working with him on issues that mattered to the UK and Brazil.

China’s leader, Xi Jinping, congratulated Lula and wished the country “new successes”.

“I am willing to work with president-elect Lula to make joint plans from a strategic height and long-term perspective, and take the China-Brazil comprehensive strategic partnership to a new level,” Xi said in a congratulatory message.

Xi said deepening bilateral cooperation would be “conducive to maintaining regional and world peace and stability, and promoting common development and prosperity”.

Brazil and China are both members of the Brics group of emerging economies, which Beijing sees as a potential counterweight in a US-dominated world order.

Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia – another Brics member – expressed hope for the further development of Russian-Brazilian cooperation. Last week, Putin said Brazil was his country’s “most important partner in Latin America”, and that he had good relations with Lula and his opponent, Bolsonaro.

President Alberto Fernández of the neighbouring Argentina said Lula’s win “opens a new era for the history of Latin America. A time of hope and future that begins today”.

“After so many injustices you lived through, the people of Brazil have elected you and democracy has triumphed,” he added.

Lula became the country’s first working-class president in 2002. He stepped down after two terms in 2010 with approval ratings close to 90%. In 2018, he was jailed on corruption charges and barred from running in that year’s election, which Bolsonaro went on to win.

Lula was freed after 580 days and his convictions quashed on the grounds that he was unfairly tried by Sergio Moro, a rightwing judge who later took a job in Bolsonaro’s cabinet.

Lula’s return to power in Brazil follows a string of leftwing gains in Latin America. Gustavo Petro, who became Colombia’s first leftist president after his election this summer, tweeted simply: “Long live Lula”. He later shared a map showing that the majority of Latin American countries were now led by leftist governments.

Mexico’s president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, also from the left, tweeted: “Lula won, blessed people of Brazil. There will be equality and humanism.”

The Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, offered a “big hug” to Lula, saying in a tweet: “Long live the peoples determined to be free, sovereign and independent! Today in Brazil democracy triumphed.”