Chile

Santiago, October 26, 2026. The Chilean press covers Lula's re-election first as a regional event, where Chile and Brazil speak to each other through their own divisions. La Tercera reports that, with 100% of the ballots counted, Lula won on Sunday, October 25, with 51.79% (64,256,232 votes) against 48.21% (59,826,041) for Flávio Bolsonaro. The newspaper emphasizes the unprecedented nature of the election: a fourth term, and the first time, since 1989, that a candidate who came in second in the first round wins in the second, overturning a gap of 2.2 million votes.

The day is told by La Tercera and BioBioChile through the extension of voting. The Minister of the Federal Supreme Court, Cristiano Zanin, postponed the closing by two hours, until 7 pm, due to rain and a lack of buses, at the request of both camps. Flávio Bolsonaro sees this as an illegitimate intervention: "It is impossible to recognize the result of the elections" and "we will request the annulment of these elections," he declared, denouncing a "flagrant inequality" between cities and states.

The tone is mainly diplomatic. La Tercera publishes the statement from the Chancellery of José Antonio Kast's government, congratulating Lula and recalling that "for Chile, Brazil is a strategic partner," with 190 years of relations. Kast writes on X that he spoke with Lula and wants an agenda of "economic integration and fight against organized crime." On the left, former President Gabriel Boric thanks "viejo lindo" Lula for "never stopping fighting," Michelle Bachelet praises Brazil's role in the region, and the Socialist Party sees "a glimmer of hope for all of Latin America." The communist Lautaro Carmona speaks of "a great triumph of democracy."

La Tercera also relays Gustavo Petro's phrase, "fascism has been stopped in Latin America, in Brazil." BioBioChile had framed the vote as a test for the "right-wing wave": according to the article, the last seven presidential elections in the region since 2025 have been won by the right, and a University of Michigan political scientist, quoted from BBC Mundo, recalled that Brazil is the first economy in the region. El Ciudadano, before the election, relayed the editorial from Brasil 247 opposing "sovereignty" and "vassalage" to Washington.

In his speech, Lula said he wants to govern for "215 million" Brazilians and that "we no longer have adversaries," according to La Tercera; BioBioChile also retains his call to regulate large digital platforms in the face of foreign interference.