Brazilians began voting Sunday in a white-knuckle presidential runoff election, choosing between wildly different visions of their future offered by far-right incumbent Jair Bolsonaro and his leftist arch-rival, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Lula, a charismatic former president tainted by graft charges, narrowly won the first-round election and enters the finale the slight favorite with 52 percent of voter support, according to a final poll from the Datafolha institute on Saturday.
However, Bolsonaro, who scored 48 percent in the poll, performed better than expected last time around, and many pundits see the elect
US President Joe Biden congratulated Lula for winning the "free, fair and credible" presidential election against Bolsonaro.
"I send my congratulations to Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on his election to be the next president of Brazil following free, fair, and credible elections," Biden said in a statement.
"I look forward to working together to continue the cooperation between our two countries in the months and years ahead," he added.
"Together, we will join forces to take up the many common challenges and renew the ties of friendship between our two countries," the French president tweeted.
Argentina's President Alberto Fernandez said Lula's win "opens a new era for the history of Latin America. A time of hope and future that begins today."
"After so many injustices you lived through, the people of Brazil have elected you and democracy has triumphed," he added in a tweet.
Lula's return to power in Brazil follows a string of left-wing victories in Latin America.
Gustavo Petro, who became Colombia's first leftist president after his election this summer, tweeted simply "Long live Lula." He later shared a map from DW's Portuguese for Brazil service showing that the majority of Latin American countries are now led by leftist governments.
Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador tweeted: "Lula won, blessed people of Brazil. There will be equality and humanism."
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro offered a "big hug" to Lula, saying in a tweet: "Long live the peoples determined to be free, sovereign and independent! Today in Brazil democracy triumphed."
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he looked forward to working with Lula "to strengthen the partnership between our countries" and "to advance shared priorities — like protecting the environment."
Bolsonaro has not yet conceded the race to Lula. The far-right incumbent has previously suggested he would claim fraud if he lost the race.
In his victory speech, Lula called for "peace and unity" following a bitter electoral campaign. He said he would represent all Brazilians, not just those who supported him.
"It is in no one's interest to live in a divided nation in a permanent state of war," Lula said.
Lula managed to handily win the northeastern states of Brazil, whereas Bolsonaro was favored in the economic powerhouses of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro in the southeast.
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