Lula wins fourth term with 51.8 percent, thanks youth and attacks big techs

Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva won a fourth term as president of Brazil after defeating Flavio Bolsonaro in the second-round runoff with 51.8 percent of the vote against 48.2 percent. In his first statement after the unprecedented turnaround, Lula thanked the generosity of Brazilian youth.

Lula began his speech by giving the floor to Vice President Geraldo Alckmin, calling him one of those responsible for the victory and saying it was fair that he played such a role. Alckmin opened by greeting young people, women, and the elderly, and told Lula he had saved Brazilian democracy.

“He has a lot to do with this our victory and I think it is fair.”

Before Lula entered the hall, security personnel tried to block allies and supporters from entering, apparently to avoid overcrowding. Federal deputy Andre Janones had to force his way through with elbows, while shouts of "people, urgent, Lula president!" rang out just before Lula took the stage.

The president arrived at the Intercontinental Hotel on Alameda Santos near Paulista Avenue at around 7:50 p.m. and stayed in a room with first lady Janja Lula da Silva, Vice President Geraldo Alckmin, former Education Minister Camilo Santana, and party president Edinho Silva. According to interlocutors, Lula arrived animated and smiling.

Other allies followed the vote count from separate rooms in the same hotel, including ministers Alexandre Padilha, Miriam Belchior, Sidonio Palmeira, and Luciana Santos, senators Wellington Dias and Carlos Favaro, senator-elect for Pernambuco Marilia Arraes, former Recife mayor Joao Campos, and deputy Tabata Amaral. International observer delegations watched the count in a separate area of the hotel.

Around 8:50 p.m., when Datafolha projected Lula as the winner of the in-person vote, cheers echoed through the hotel and senators, deputies, and other allies began heading to the auditorium.