On Sunday, former president and leftist leader Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva narrowly defeated far-right incumbent Jair Bolsonaro in the Brazilian election.
The Supreme Electoral Court declared Lula the next president, who attained 50.9% of the votes against 49.1% for Bolsonaro, with a 79,41% turnout.
However last year, Bolsonaro openly discussed refusing to accept the results of the vote, claiming that Brazil’s electronic voting system was vulnerable to fraud.
Lula has promised a return to state-driven economic and social policies. He vows to combat the devastation of the Amazon rainforest, and make Brazil a leader in global climate talks.
From 2003 to 2010, Lula served as president and helped lift millions out of poverty, but his Workers Party later faced a deep recession and a corruption scandal.
In July 2017, the 77-year-old was sentenced to 10 years in prison on corruption and money laundering charges. He was freed in 2019 after the Supreme Court ruled that he had not received due process.
