[Financial News] Incumbent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, known as the “godfather” of South America’s left, won Brazil’s presidential runoff on the 25th (local time). With this victory, Lula will serve as president for a fourth time. Lula wins after a razor-thin race According to foreign media outlets, including the United Kingdom’s The Guardian, Brazil’s Supreme Electoral Court confirmed Lula’s election as president after he received 51.77% of the vote, based on 99.99% of ballots counted. Lula is a member of the left-wing Workers’ Party (PT). His opponent, Senator Flávio Bolsonaro of the right-wing Liberal Party (PL), received 48.23%. Lula lost to Flávio by about 2.2 million votes in the first round of the presidential election on the 4th. Flávio had also narrowly led Lula within the margin of error in five polls released a day before the runoff. This is the first time in Brazil’s history that a candidate who lost the first round has won the runoff. Lula was ahead early in the count on the 25th, but Flávio took the lead once 13.98% of the votes had been counted. The gap between the two candidates’ vote shares exceeded one percentage point. But Lula began closing in on Flávio after more than 30% of the vote had been counted and overtook him at around the 48% mark. He gradually widened the gap and secured the advantage. Lula defeated former President Jair Bolsonaro, known as the “Trump of Brazil,” in the 2022 presidential election. Jair’s 27-year prison sentence was finalized over allegations related to his supporters’ January 2023 election-denial riot and a coup plot. Flávio, who faced Lula in this election, is Jair’s eldest son. U.S. President Donald Trump did not publicly endorse Flávio, but met him in person at the White House in the United States this year. In a speech to the UN General Assembly last month, Lula indirectly criticized Trump’s foreign political interference, saying, “Brazil is nobody’s backyard.” Left-wing godfather wins fourth presidential term Born on October 27, 1945, Lula will soon turn 81. He grew up in Pernambuco state in northeastern Brazil as the son of a tenant farmer. From the age of seven, he earned a living selling peanuts and shining shoes. After leaving school in the fifth grade, he worked from the age of 14 at a metalworking company in São Bernardo do Campo, near São Paulo. In 1964, at the age of 19, Lula lost the little finger on his left hand in a workplace accident. Five years later, his first wife, who had worked at the same factory, died. She was pregnant and suffering from an occupational illness. Recalling that time, Lula said he could not take her to the hospital because he could not afford the medical costs. He later became involved in the labor movement and, in 1975, served as head of a metalworkers’ union with 100,000 members. In early 1980, Lula brought together industrial unions and left-wing intellectuals to found the Workers’ Party (PT). He entered politics in 1986 after winning election to the Federal Chamber of Deputies. He ran for president as the PT candidate in 1989 but lost, then suffered two more defeats before finally winning the presidency in 2002. He was reelected in 2006. Leaving office in 2010 with an approval rating of 80%, he later became embroiled in corruption investigations and was arrested in 2016. He was jailed for 590 days starting in April 2018 on bribery and money-laundering charges. In 2022, he again united the left and defeated Jair, becoming president for a third time. In the vote on the 25th, he also beat Jair’s son Flávio, setting a record by winning a fourth presidential term. Meanwhile, political circles in Brazil have recently focused on a financial fraud scheme led by banker Daniel Vorcaro. Flávio is under investigation on corruption and money-laundering allegations related to the production of a biographical film about his father, which Vorcaro funded. At the same time, the Lula government has been embroiled in controversy after ties between Vorcaro and an influential Supreme Court justice came to light. [email protected] Park Jong-won Reporter