Politics

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, a leftist former president, won Brazil’s election, beating Jair Bolsonaro, the populist right-wing incumbent. Lula, as he is known, won 50.9% of the votes to Mr Bolsonaro’s 49.1%, the narrowest winning margin since Brazil’s return to democracy in the 1980s. After the result was declared, Mr Bolsonaro refused to speak publicly for 45 hours. He eventually gave a two-minute speech and said he would comply with the constitution. He also asked supporters who had taken to the streets to stop blocking roads with lorries. Although Mr Bolsonaro did not explicitly concede, his chief of staff said that the transition of power would proceed smoothly.