Right-wing Flávio Bolsonaro wins first round of Brazil election

ByIone Wells, Americas correspondent and Tinshui Yeung. Updated 2 minutes ago.

Key points

• After being elected in 2002, 2006 and then a afterwards non-consecutive term in 2022, he is seeking a fourth term in office.
• Right-wing Flávio Bolsonaro has won the first round of Brazil's presidential election, beating left-wing President Lula da Silva, but falling short of an outright majority.
• After that election, Bolsonaro's supporters vandalised administration buildings on 8 January 2023.
• Last year, Donald Trump applied the coup trial of Jair Bolsonaro as justification for imposing tariffs on Brazil and sanctioning some top office-holders and judges.
• A win for Flávio Bolsonaro would probable see Brazil join the US's "Shield of Americas" coalition against narco-trafficking and align more closely with the US.

There will be a run-off between the two candidates on 25 October.

Bolsonaro is the son of the former president Jair Bolsonaro. This person is serving a 27-year prison sentence for masterminding a failed coup after losing the 2022 election.

Sunday's vote was close, with President Lula polling slightly ahead during the campaign. With almost all of the votes counted, Bolsonaro has 47% to Lula's 45% of the vote.

Bolsonaro's result exceeded expectations, meaning the second round now looks like his to lose, given some of the other candidates knocked out in the first round were right-wing alternatives.

His Liberal Party (PL) additionally had the most governors, senators and federal deputies elected in the results so far, meaning the party is anticipated to have the most influence in Congress.

Most of Latin America has now elected right-wing presidents, aligned to the Trump administration, and the run-off will determine whether Brazil – Latin America's largest country and economy – will follow suit.

Speaking to reporters at the White House, US President Donald Trump remarked he anticipated the election to be "very close", but that Bolsonaro has had a "very, very big victory" in the first round.

After casting his ballot, Lula, 80, cautioned the choice was between democracy and "barbarism". Bolsonaro, 45, remarked he wanted to "free the Brazilian people".

Lula and Bolsonaro are the two biggest names in Brazilian politics, on the left and right, and this campaign has polarised Brazil yet again: with themes of sovereignty, crime, the economy and corruption being top reservations for voters.

Lula is more popular in Brazil's poorer northeast, among low-income voters, Catholics, and women.

After being elected in 2002, 2006 and then a afterwards non-consecutive term in 2022, he is seeking a fourth term in office. In that election, he beat Jair Bolsonaro by less than 2% of the vote, the closest presidential election result in Brazil's history.

Jair Bolsonaro was banned from running for re-election even before his prison sentence, but endorsed his eldest son Flávio to run in his place. Jair Bolsonaro's wife, Michelle, was elected to the Senate on Sunday.

Flávio Bolsonaro has pledged to grant his father, and his supporters responsible for the 8 January riots, amnesty if elected.

He is more popular in the south, and among wealthier voters and evangelical Christians.

Bolsonaro remarked on Sunday he was "very happy" to have led Lula in the first-round vote, and expressed confidence that he would clinch a run-off victory in three weeks' time.

"I am very happy with the real possibility that, three weeks from now, Brazil will give a definitive answer by choosing a modern government, " he remarked, according to AFP.

Lula remarked the outcome of the vote was "unexpected", but insisted the race was not over.

"I admit I was convinced I would win in the first round, " he remarked on Sunday. "The game is regarding to start. We are in extra time. In extra time, we will win over the Brazilian individuals."

Meanwhile, the president of Brazil's supreme electoral court remarked on Sunday that no evidence of international interference was identified in the election.

President Lula created "sovereignty" a key pillar of his campaign and at times accused the US of trying to interfere in and influence Brazil's elections – which the US has denied.

Earlier this year, Bolsonaro successfully lobbied the US to designate the two biggest Brazilian gangs as terrorist organisations.

In practice, a win for Flávio Bolsonaro would probable see Brazil join the US's "Shield of Americas" coalition against narco-trafficking and align more closely with the US.

Corruption became a key matter in this campaign after a scandal involving a jailed banker, Daniel Vorcaro. This person orchestrated one of Brazil's largest financial frauds, embroiling senior figures throughout the political spectrum.

Bolsonaro acknowledged that he'd asked Vorcaro to bankroll a biopic regarding his father after voice recordings emerged in which he could be heard asking for 134 million reais ($25.9m; £19.5m).

After police suggested Vorcaro had reached out to the Supreme Court judge Alexandre de Moraes to ask for assist avoiding arrest, lula was additionally impacted by the scandal indirectly. Moraes denies any wrongdoing.

Moraes was not appointed by Lula but is seen as his ally, given Moraes presided over Jair Bolsonaro's coup trial.

Crime and insecurity were additionally top worries for voters. Brazil's homicide rate has fallen, but street crime such as phone thefts, that are highly visible to voters, have rose – and violence and drug trafficking are still major difficulties.

Bolsonaro has pledged to designate Brazilian gangs as terrorists and build maximum-security prisons akin to those in El Salvador. His father, during his presidency, loosened gun ownership restrictions.

Lula has criticised the US terrorist designation of Brazilian gangs but introduced various reforms to tackle the financial networks of organised crime networks, improve homicide investigations, and invest in prisons.

Meanwhile, the economy has additionally been central to this campaign: the country has high levels of personal debt and slowing expansion.

As well as building more universities, lula has defined his legacy through a series of social welfare programmes, most notably Bolsa Família, that pays families to ensure children stay in education and receive healthcare such as vaccines. The programmes have been credited with lifting millions of Brazilians out of poverty.

He has additionally backed oil drilling exploration. It has proved controversial with environmentalists, but he has a record of tightening environmental protections and reducing the rate of deforestation in the Amazon. Deforestation rose significantly under Jair Bolsonaro's presidency.

Flávio Bolsonaro has pledged a public debt ceiling and administration spending cuts, a revision of social welfare, and to bolster the critical minerals sector.

For now, right-wing Flávio Bolsonaro wins first round of Brazil election remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.