STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
The president of Brazil came back to win Sunday's runoff presidential election.
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva beat back his toughest election challenge to date. It's a victory for the leftist president against the right-wing wave that has swept much of the Americas.
INSKEEP: NPR's Carrie Kahn is in Brasilia, the capital of that country. Carrie, welcome.
CARRIE KAHN, BYLINE: Good morning.
INSKEEP: OK. There was this initial round of voting. Lula came in second, not first. How did he make it to first place this time?
KAHN: It was pretty remarkable. His campaign seemed to really kick into high gear after that loss in the first round of voting. And in the last weeks, Lula was just holding huge marches, trying harder to engage with younger voters, women and even older voters. He needed to get out the vote. Some 33 million Brazilians had sat out that first round, and polls just predicted he was done. He would need to pick up a large majority of fresh votes in the second round to win, and that's exactly what he did. Brazilians went to the polls, and he captured millions of new votes. He outperformed Flavio Bolsonaro, the son of the former far-right president, by more than 4 million votes. I think Lula, who turns 81 tomorrow, was even shocked by the turnaround himself. Here he is last night, very hoarse, speaking to ecstatic supporters in Sao Paulo.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PRESIDENT LUIZ INACIO LULA DA SILVA: (Non-English language spoken).
KAHN: "I would like to thank the Brazilian people for the generosity they have shown me for such a long time," he said. He gave a particular shout-out to Brazil's young people who, he said, took to the streets to defend democracy. And this was a theme in the last weeks of his campaign that really appears to have galvanized voters that the return of a Bolsonaro to power would be an existential threat to Brazilian democracy.
INSKEEP: OK. Did Flavio Bolsonaro, the son of the former president, accept these results?
KAHN: No, he did not. He asked for the results to be annulled. He said that what happened in Brazil yesterday was, quote, "not normal." He, too, seemed stunned by Lula's win. Here he is speaking to reporters late last night outside his party headquarters in Brasilia.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
FLAVIO BOLSONARO: (Non-English language spoken).
KAHN: "It's inexplicable what happened," he said. Bolsonaro pointed to a late ruling by the Supreme Court yesterday had ordered polls to stay open for two more hours. But both candidates had requested that extension, citing transportation problems and bad weather. But the order to leave the polls open was made on Lula's request. Bolsonaro, however, complained that allowing the polls to stay open, quote, "changed the rules in the middle of the game."
INSKEEP: I just want to be totally clear on this. Bolsonaro's side also asked for the polling to be extended. But then when it didn't work out for him, he said it was unfair. Is that what you're telling me?
KAHN: Yes, that's right. But the Supreme Court ruled on just Lula's petition to keep the polls open for two more hours.
INSKEEP: OK. So how does Lula's victory fit in with other elections in the hemisphere?
KAHN: Lula appears to have put the brakes on that right-wing swing sweeping Latin America. Seven conservative presidents have been elected in the last 18 months. President Trump likes to take credit for those wins, especially as he's been asserting more dominance in the region. Trump and Lula have frequently clashed, and Lula warned that if Bolsonaro won, Trump would trample Brazilian sovereignty and would come for Brazil's resources, including its rare earth mineral reserves. Many Latin American leaders have called to congratulate Lula. The White House so far has been silent.
INSKEEP: NPR's Carrie Kahn. Thanks so much.
KAHN: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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