‘Brazil’s Phoenix’ and ‘defeat of the ultra-right’; see how foreign newspapers reacted to Lula’s victory

The victory of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) in the elections on Sunday (31) gained space on the front page of several of the main newspapers in the world.

The Portuguese Público opted for editorialism and reserved almost its entire cover for a photo of the president-elect carrying the Brazilian flag. “Brazil chose democracy and elected Lula again,” he said.

French center-left Le Monde wrote in his headline that Lula won “in a fractured country” and recalled the PT’s political trajectory in recent years, citing his arrest and acquittal. For the newspaper, the margins of Lula, the “phoenix of Brazil”, will be narrow, “to the extent that he will face a hostile Congress, an uncertain economic situation and a violent country”.

In Spain, El País also highlighted the political division in Brazil and stated that “the left has defeated the far-right Bolsonaro by less than two percentage points”. Most European newspapers, however, do not mention Lula’s victory on the cover – which can be explained by the difference between the closing times of the periodicals and the TSE (Superior Electoral Court) announcement of the result.

In the US, the NYT dedicated a large space on its cover to the election, under the title “Brazil rejects Bolsonaro and brings Lula back”. The American newspaper highlights that the PT victory “ends Bolsonaro’s turbulent period” and recalls that it is the first time that an incumbent president fails to be reelected.

The observation was also made by the Wall Street Journal, which dedicated its headline to the issue accompanied by a photo of Lula next to his deputy, Geraldo Alckmin (PSB), and surrounded by supporters in São Paulo.

More measured, the Washington Post placed the Brazilian elections in a space in the corner of the front page and highlighted Lula’s victory against the “Brazilian Trumpist”.

In South America, the Argentines Clarín and La Nación and the Chilean El Mercurio reinforced Lula’s narrow victory. The Mexican La Jornada, on the other hand, chose to fill almost its entire front page with a photograph of the PT candidate with his wrist raised and smiling.