Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva wins Brazilian presidential runoff election

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has won re-election in the Brazilian presidential runoff, the New York Times, Corporate Knights, and Mongabay reported on October 26, 2026. Environmentalists view the election outcome as a victory that will lead to continued protections for the Amazon rainforest. Lula da Silva defeated an opponent who advocated for making land clearing easier. [1][2][3][4]

General elections took place in Brazil on October 4, 2026, to elect the president, vice president, National Congress, and state governors. Because no candidate received over half of the valid votes in the first round, a runoff election took place on October 25. As FTMQ Climate reported earlier, far-right candidate Flavio Bolsonaro initially led Lula da Silva in the first round on October 4 before both candidates advanced to the runoff. [5][8][9]

The Amazon rainforest holds more than half of the remaining tropical rainforest on Earth, with 60 percent of its territory located inside Brazil. Lula da Silva previously served alongside former president Jair Bolsonaro, who governed from 2019 to 2023 before being barred from public office following a conviction for planning a coup d'etat. [8][9]

In separate developments in the Brazilian Amazon, the construction of an access road for the Potássio Autazes potash mining project in Autazes, Amazonas state, has caused at least two sacred springs to dry up, Mongabay reported. The Indigenous Mura people stated that the project has faced a series of controversies spanning a decade. [2]