“They tried to bury me alive”: Lula hails comeback after Brazil election victory

Brazilian President-Elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva promised to unite a divided country on Sunday after defeating incumbent Jair Bolsonaro in a runoff presidential vote.

Lula won 50.9 per cent of the vote compared with 49.1 per cent for Bolsonaro, the Supreme Electoral Court said, declaring former president Lula the winner.

Lula has vowed a return to state-driven economic growth and social policies that helped lift millions out of poverty when he was previously president from 2003 to 2010. He also promised to combat the destruction of the Amazon rainforest and make Brazil a leader in global climate talks.

“I consider myself to be a citizen that has had a process of reconstruction in Brazilian politics. Because they tried to bury me alive. And I am here; I am here to govern the country from a very difficult situation he said,” he said, addressing his supporters following his victory.

A former union leader born into poverty, Lula organized strikes against Brazil’s military government in the 1970’s. His two-term presidency was marked by a commodity-driven economic boom and he left office with record popularity. However, his Workers Party was later tarred by a deep recession and a record-breaking corruption scandal that jailed him for 19 months on bribery convictism, which were overturned by the Supreme Court last year.

Lula’s victory consolidates a new “pink tide” in Latin America, after landmark leftist victories in Colombia and Chile’s elections.