Win for Lula boosts China’s foothold and gives Brazil rare earths leverage

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s re-election preserves Beijing’s most critical foothold in Latin America, while positioning Brasilia to leverage the US-China rivalry over its vast rare earth reserves without picking sides.

Lula, 80, secured an unprecedented fourth term on Sunday after winning 51.8 per cent of the run-off vote to defeat right-wing rival Flavio Bolsonaro. The son of jailed former president Jair Bolsonaro and Trump ally has, however, refused to concede.

Beijing swiftly welcomed the outcome, with foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun congratulating Lula on Monday and affirming that China was ready to work with Brazil to “continue advancing the building of a China-Brazil community with a shared future”.