More than 24 hours after election officials said Lula had won the race by a narrow margin of 1.8 percentage points, the far-right president has ignored calls from allies to concede and has not appeared in public or made a statement. Alexandre de Moraes, Brazil’s top election official, ordered highway police late Monday to “take all necessary measures” to clear the truckers’ roadblocks, which have disrupted traffic at more than 300 points across the country. country. He threatened to imprison the force leader if he did not obey. Truckers represent a critical group of Bolsonaro’s supporters and have benefited from lower fuel costs under his government. There was no sign of other groups joining the protests and most of the country remained quiet after the election. Financial markets traded cautiously on Monday, with the Bovespa index up 1.3% and the real currency firmer against the dollar, as investors awaited clearer messages from veteran leftist Lula on economic policy and Bolsonaro on his political intentions. While world leaders, including US President Joe Biden, sent their congratulations to Lula, his defeated opponent spent the night and the next day in silence in the Brasilia election after losing by just 1.8 percentage points, with news it is said that he found it difficult to accept his defeat and refused to accept even close aides. The social media accounts of the president, a former army captain and his three politician sons have been uncharacteristically quiet, apart from a lone post on Monday by Flavio Bolsonaro, a senator, on Twitter thanking supporters and adding: “Let’s keep our heads up and let’s not leave our Brazil! God is responsible!” Andre Perfeito of brokerage Necton said: “We have to see what Bolsonaro will do. The president must say something.” Bolsonaro’s communications minister, Fabio Faria, told Reuters news agency that the president would not speak until Tuesday. Sunday’s result marked a dramatic comeback for Lula, who served two terms as president between 2003 and 2010 but was subsequently accused of corruption. He served time in prison before his convictions were overturned. Investors were also waiting to see who Lula would pick for the crucial roles of finance minister and chief of staff, with former health minister Alexandre Padilha and Fernando Haddad, the former mayor of Sao Paulo, said to be in the running. Lula’s victory followed a campaign marred by an avalanche of fake news and mudslinging, prompting frequent interventions by the supreme court and the top electoral authority and fueling fears of post-election conflict. Arthur Lira, president of the lower house of Congress and one of the few Bolsonaro allies to comment publicly, said it was “time to disarm passions and reach out to opponents.” Recommended Lula’s victory was warmly welcomed by world leaders, who will welcome Brazil’s return to multilateralism after the diplomatic isolation of the Bolsonaro years. In addition to Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron and Chinese leader Xi Jinping were quick to congratulate Lula. Biden called Lula on Monday to discuss future cooperation and stressed in a statement that Brazil’s elections were “free, fair and credible.” Russian President Vladimir Putin also sent him his congratulations. Russia is a major fertilizer supplier to Brazil. Lula’s victory would end four years of far-right populism and nationalism under Bolsonaro. It is the latest in a series of clans that have overturned incumbents across Latin America, returning mostly leftist leaders. Lula won 50.9 percent of the vote to Bolsonaro’s 49.1, after leading during a three-hour cliffhanger count. It faces enormous challenges. Brazil’s economy is set to slow sharply next year, and state finances have been squeezed by campaign spending spree by Bolsonaro, who managed to bypass a constitutional limit on public spending to try to win re-election. Global economic headwinds and weaker growth in China, Brazil’s biggest trading partner, will complicate Lula’s challenges in delivering on ambitious promises to increase spending on welfare, health and education. Investors have raised concerns about his refusal so far to commit to firm targets on fiscal discipline or spell out how he would finance his commitments. Video: Brazil: a nation divided | Film FT
