Amid Irregularities, Bolsonaro Contests Brazilian Election
In an election marred by controversy and apparent legal violations, Brazilian electoral authorities declared far-left leader Luiz Inacio “Lula” da Silva the winner in a runoff vote with profound implications for the nation and beyond. Conservative Flavio Bolsonaro and his allies in Congress and around the world are vowing to fight on.
Globalists, communists, and socialists across Brazil and worldwide celebrated the contested election results. From George Soros’ son Alex Soros and socialist U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders to murderous communist dictators, totalitarians could hardly contain their glee. The establishment press worldwide has largely been parroting Lula’s claims about a victory for “democracy,” too.
Official results showed Lula with 51.7 percent of the vote against Bolsonaro’s 48.2 percent. However, pointing to an unprecedented intervention in the election by a Supreme Court judge allied with Lula, Bolsonaro and Brazilian lawmakers argued that the supposed victory for Lula was illegitimate. As such, they are refusing to recognize the result and pledged to fight on.
Election Fraud?
There were numerous irregularities in the election, with numbers that critics said do not appear to make sense. Especially controversial was a last-minute order by pro-Lula Supreme Court Justice Cristiano Zanin, who was appointed to the court by Lula. Claiming public transportation issues had caused difficulties for some voters, he granted a request by Lula’s campaign to keep the polls open two hours after they closed.
The order from the judge, who previously served as Lula’s criminal defense attorney, threw the election into chaos nationwide. Numerous polling places had already closed. But in major cities known to be friendlier to the far-left Lula — a key co-conspirator with late Cuban dictator Fidel Castro and other communists — votes for Lula continued to pour in, critics said. Bolsonaro’s side had earlier requested an extension of the vote due to heavy rains in some parts of the country.
As soon as the order was issued, Brazilians took to social media to say the communists were “rigging the election.” And as expected, enormous numbers of additional votes for Lula came during those two hours. Lula defenders claim this was to be expected because votes from poorer areas came in later.
Legal experts said the unprecedented move may result in the election being annulled, especially because the justice who gave the order bypassed the Supreme Electoral Tribunal that actually has jurisdiction over elections. It also sparked major concerns among voters about the integrity of the election. Leaders across Latin America spoke out, too.
If the results stand, it will be the first time a candidate who lost in the first round won in the runoff. Lula’s party also suffered enormous losses in congressional elections.
Bolsonaro Contests the Election
Bolsonaro is among those refusing to recognize the results. “What happened today was not normal — and it was unacceptable,” said the senator and presidential candidate while flanked by supporters. “It is impossible to recognize these election results in the context of how these things happened. We are going to use our legal team, we are going to request the annulment of these elections.”
Noting that the judge who gave the order was an associate of Lula’s with no authority to intervene, Bolsonaro blasted the move as “changing the rules in the middle of the game.” It was the first time in history something like this has happened, added the son of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro sometimes known as “Tropical Trump.”
“We are not here to joke around,” added Bolsonaro, saying the Brazilian people could not recognize the election results in light of the “travesty” that occurred. “I am not going to give up on Brazil. I hope you also will not desist.”
Senator Marcel van Hattem, an ally of Bolsonaro, also rejected the scheme and vowed to introduce impeachment proceedings against the Supreme Court Justice behind it. “I will file for the impeachment of Zanin due to his negligent conduct!” the conservative-leaning federal lawmaker said on X. “He issued a ruling without having the jurisdiction to do so, and did so after 5:00 PM — at which point the electoral process had already legally concluded.”
“Furthermore, there is clear evidence of bias, given that Zanin served as Lula’s personal attorney before becoming a Supreme Court justice,” continued van Hattem. “And the request for an extension was filed by Lula’s own coalition!”
Another Brazilian lawmaker, Bruno Souza of Santa Catarina, went even further, suggesting it may be time for his state to leave the federation. “As an elected deputy in Santa Catarina, I will fulfill my campaign promise: To call for a PLEBISCITE so that the people of Santa Catarina (and the South) can vote on whether they still want to be part of this Federation,” he said. “The differences in preferences, priorities, and values became clear once again in this election. THE SOUTH DESERVES TO BE FREE!”
Judicial Authorities Also Concerned
Beyond Bolsonaro and conservative lawmakers, some judicial authorities also expressed grave concerns over the election. Brazil’s president of the Superior Electoral Tribunal, Justice Kassio Nunes Marques, said there were “no regulations authorizing any extension” of the vote. He also warned that the decision to grant the two-hour extension by a single member of the Supreme Court generated “difficulties.”
“Never, in the history of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, has there been any extension,” he said. “It would not be possible, in a few hours, to form a judgment with certainty that no side effects — especially in the technological aspect — arising from a court decision would significantly impact the vote count!”
Even more significantly, Justice Marques also warned that the Supreme Court lacked jurisdiction to get involved in the case. Rather, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal is “the institution to which our Constitution attributed the exclusive competence to manage the electoral process,” he added.
Lula Celebrates “Democracy”
Lula, by contrast, claimed the election showed Brazilians wanted to “guarantee democracy.” “My eternal gratitude to the Brazilian people, to the youth who took to the streets in defense of democracy, and to every person who made an immense effort to vote and defend the future of our country,” he said. “You all move me and renew my hope.”
“This victory belongs to a people who believe, who fight, and who never give up on building a more just, sovereign, and democratic Brazil,” continued Lula, who said in 2023 that it makes him “proud” to be called a communist. “Thank you so much, Brazil! This victory is ours. The victory belongs to the Brazilian people!”
The Brazilian strongman was convicted of serious corruption and was sent to prison before being released by his allies. He co-founded a communist network known as the Foro de São Paulo with Castro, the Sandinistas, and Marxist narco-terror groups such as the FARC in Colombia. The goal of the group, which has close ties to Moscow and Beijing, was to conquer Latin America for communism, according to its own minutes.
In his “victory” speech, Lula offered jabs at the United States and the Trump administration. Among other comments, the Brazilian communist said Brazil would “not accept being anyone’s backyard,” a reference to Trump’s hostility to Latin American communism as much of the region turns back toward conservatism.
The U.S. government imposed certain punitive measures on Brazil such as tariffs in response to the Lula regime’s persecution of former President Bolsonaro. The pretext for the charges: a supposed “coup attempt” blamed on Bolsonaro with striking parallels to the January 6 “insurrection” in Washington blamed on Trump by the press and Democrats.
Lula also vowed to go after technology platforms. In fact, for years, Lula and his ally Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes have been arresting and censoring dissidents in Brazil under the guise of “protecting democracy.” In his victory speech, Lula took special aim at Facebook parent company Meta, claiming it was involved in “interference” during the campaign.
Praise for Lula
Referring to Lula as his “dear brother,” Communist Cuban dictator Miguel Diaz-Canel congratulated his Brazilian counterpart on X. “This historic victory ensures the continuity of the path of peace, sovereignty, and social justice embarked upon by the Brazilian people under your leadership,” the Cuban strongman said.
Various other Latin American leaders — mostly leftists — also praised the supposed victory. From Mexico to Panama, far-left leaders, many affiliated with Lula’s communist São Paulo Forum, celebrated the first major electoral defeat of right-wing candidates in Latin America since Trump came to power and defunded USAID.
U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), the only open socialist in the Senate, praised Lula for his “extraordinary reelection victory” in the presidential election. “Lula has stood up for Brazilian workers & democracy — and will continue to do so in the next four years,” argued Sanders.
Alex Soros, the son of billionaire George Soros, could hardly contain his joy. “Lula Lula Lula!” he wrote on X. “Congrats to Brazil for standing up against authoritarianism once again!”
American Critics
Multiple prominent Trump allies sounded the alarm. Discussing the Brazilian election and Lula’s supposed win, longtime Trump confidante Roger Stone quoted Joseph Stalin’s famous statement about elections being decided by those who count the votes rather than those who vote.
General Michael Flynn (Ret.), Trump’s first national security advisor, also suggested fraud was at work, pointing to a graph showing a massive surge in votes for Lula right at the end to push him over the finish line. Flynn quoted a friend on the ground saying, “This is a massive scandal in Brazil and goes to show that the country is nothing more than a banana republic.”
Virginia Tuckey, Chair of Republicans Overseas Argentina, warned about the implications for Latin America and called for U.S. policymakers to take action. “Brazil is heading toward replacing Cuba and Venezuela as the nerve center of communism and international crime in Latin America,” she said in a statement. “Argentina must implement extreme border controls with Brazil and leave Mercosur immediately. The United States must economically strangle Brazil — that’s how you deal with communism.”
Tuckey also called on U.S. authorities to cancel the visas of “the entire hierarchy of the Brazilian left” and deny them entry to the United States. “Furthermore, expose the ties of Lula and his allies to the crimes of communism plotted in Cuba and go deep into the networks that finance the judges of the Brazilian and Latin American left,” she added. “Trump’s work in Latam must go deep.”
As of Sunday evening, Trump has not publicly commented on the election. While he declined to offer an endorsement in the race, it is known that the administration has serious concerns about the erosion of liberty, basic rights, and constitutional government in Brazil and the Western Hemisphere.
The Numbers and What’s Next
The numbers in the election have raised alarm, too. Consider that in the first round of the election, Lula received about 53 million votes. In the runoff, however, he supposedly received more than 64 million votes. All of the other candidates combined received a mere nine million votes in the first round, and the other major candidates largely announced their support for Bolsonaro in the runoff.
Former Brazilian Congressman Eduardo Bolsonaro, Flavio’s brother who is now exiled in the United States due to persecution from Lula and his allies, pointed to the numbers in disbelief. “Flávio gained 4 million votes, going from 56 million to 60 million. Lula gained 10 million votes, going from 54 million to 64 million,” he said, rounding the figures. “Of this pool of 14 million votes, Flávio received 29%, while Lula received 71%.”
“This happened despite the fact that 10 million of those 14 million votes came from voters who had supported other candidates with more right-leaning political profiles. The whole thing is so extraordinary that it is extremely difficult to believe,” he continued. “It’s as if, in just three weeks, voters who had signaled a turn to the right suddenly made a sharp turn to the left. It’s hard not to think about those two extra hours.”
Like other Brazilian conservative leaders, Eduardo Bolsonaro vowed to pushing. “We will never give up the fight,” he said.
Throughout Latin America, with Biden and Obama out of power and U.S. taxpayer funding for the Left drying up, liberty-minded candidates won a series of major victories against communists and the “pink tide.” From Colombia and Ecuador to Chile and Argentina, conservatives have been winning big. Brazil is now the outlier. What happens next remains to be seen.
As this magazine has been documenting for decades, Brazil is now the epicenter of Latin America’s communist movement, with Lula serving as one of its key leaders. But the implications of this election go far beyond Brazil — the largest and most important country in Latin America. For the sake of liberty and self-government across the Western Hemisphere, it is critical that any fraud or cheating be exposed, overturned, and punished.
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