The BRICS nations understand well the strategic implications of Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s re-election victory on Sunday. His opponent, Flávio Bolsonaro, had promised, if elected, to pull Brazil out of the BRICS and align himself with the U.S. National Security Strategy of driving China and Russia out of the Western Hemisphere. Each of the congratulatory messages from the heads of state of the four countries—Russia, India, China, and South Africa—which, with Brazil, joined to make BRIC the BRICS almost 17 years ago, referenced their common endeavor to create a safer world for humanity.
“This victory will echo beyond the shores of Brazil. It is a victory for the Global South,” South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa wrote. “We affirm our commitment to continue strengthening bilateral relations between our two countries and working closely together in all multilateral fora to forge a just and better world order underpinned by solidarity and adherence to international law.”
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated his “dear friend” on his remarkable victory. India and Brazil will work “to deepen and expand” their strategic partnership, he wrote. “Together, we will continue to strengthen our cooperation in various sectors, promote the shared priorities of the Global South, and work towards a more inclusive, equitable, and sustainable world.”
President Vladimir Putin, for his part, wrote that “the election results clearly demonstrate that your fellow citizens recognize your outstanding leadership qualities and support your policy of ensuring the country’s sustainable socioeconomic development and defending its sovereignty and legitimate interests on the international stage…. We will, of course, continue working closely together to expand our fruitful bilateral cooperation across all areas and our constructive engagement within the UN, BRICS, the G20 and other multilateral frameworks.”
China’s President Xi Jinping, too, referenced their close communication in recent years on “jointly building the China-Brazil community with a shared future for a more just world.” The Brazil-China bilateral relationship has taken on increasing “global, strategic and long-term significance… making it a model of solidarity and cooperation among Global South countries,” Xi wrote.
Equally notable, presidents in Ibero-America from across the ideological spectrum have congratulated President Lula on his victory. This includes the presidents of Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Panama, Paraguay, and Peru, whom the Trump administration thought were in its back pocket, as all have joined the administration’s “Shield of the Americas” operation to control the region.
The Presidents of Peru and Chile both wrote of their interest in expanding regional integration. “I reaffirm our willingness to strengthen our strategic alliance, integration, cooperation, and the sustainable development of the Amazon that we share, for the benefit of both our peoples,” Peru’s Keiko Fujimori wrote Lula. José Antonio Kast called Lula, with the message that “Chile and Brazil have a lot of shared future ahead. We will continue working on an agenda that strengthens relations between our countries in economic integration and the fight against organized crime in the region.”
The White House, the State Department, and Argentina’s crackpot president, Javier Milei (their closest ally in the world, according to Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau), have yet to recognize Lula’s victory. President Trump, whose team had worked for Bolsonaro’s victory, groused to reporters on Monday that the Brazilian results “looked like another rigged election… terrible,” adding, however, that he gets along fine with Lula.
