Reader Q&A: After Lula’s sensational victory in Brazil’s presidential election, the Guardian’s Latin America correspondent answers your questions

Reader Q&A: After Lula’s sensational victory in Brazil’s presidential election, the Guardian’s Latin America correspondent answers your questions

Having lost the first round of Brazil’s presidential election to far right rival Flávio Bolsonaro, incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva spectacularly triumphed in the second. What comes next for Brazil? The Guardian’s Tom Phillips is answering your questions now. Ask a question: log in or sign up here to comment, or email conversations@theguardian.com ThirdHandLuke asks: What are your views on Flávio Bolsonaro being banned from leaving Brazil so soon after losing the election? As an interested outsider, to me the optics don’t look particularly great, given Lula’s statement “Democracy always”. Tom: The optics do indeed look odd. But Bolsonaro is the focus of several serious criminal investigations and his relatives and allies have a long history of skipping the country to avoid justice. His brother, Eduardo Bolsonaro, left Brazil for the US in early 2025 and has not returned. He would have to serve a four-year sentence for coercion if he returned. Jair Bolsonaro’s former spy chief, Alexandre Ramagem, fled the country through the Amazon last September to avoid having to serve a 16-year sentence for his role in the coup attempt that happened after Lula won the 2022 election. Carla Zambelli, another prominent Bolsonarista, is facing extradition from Italy after fleeing there. Jair Bolsonaro briefly sought shelter in the Hungarian embassy in Brasília, in 2024. There are unconfirmed reports that Flávio Bolsonaro may have already left the country. federal police are investigating claims that he fled across the border into Argentina and plans to take a private jet to the US. We are trying to find out what is going on and will keep readers posted. Tom: I think Lula’s position on the Ukraine war and its longstanding strategic partnership with Moscow is unlikely to change. Brazil’s agribusiness sector is hugely reliant on fertilisers bought from Moscow. In fact, Brazil is now Russia’s biggest customer of fertilizers such as phosphate. After the start of the war, Brazil also became one of the biggest importers of Russian diesel. The Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy congratulated Lula “on his impressive election result”. He also said that he hoped “Brazil continues to play an active role in international affairs and contributes to the effective protection of human rights, the rights of peoples, and the rights of states”. Speaking at the UN recently Lula called for diplomatic efforts to end the war. “We all know that there will be no winners on the battlefield. Diplomacy is the only option,” he said. But I would not expect any more forceful condemnation of Vladimir Putin from Brasília, no. Continue reading...