Luiz Ignacio Lula da Silva (with microphone) raises his winning fist.

DLNews World News:

It could hardly have been closer!

In the runoff election for the Brazilian presidency, challenger Luiz Ignacio Lula da Silva (77), known as Lula, defeated incumbent Jair Bolsonaro (67). He won 50.9 percent of the vote, the electoral office in Brasília announced Sunday.

Lula's supporters celebrate the election victory.

While Lula celebrated the election victory with his supporters in São Paulo, nothing was heard from the defeated president. However, allies of the incumbent head of state acknowledged Lula's victory.

More than 150 million Brazilians had been called to vote. In the first round of voting on Oct. 2, Lula, who had been president from 2003 to 2010, had garnered 48 percent of the vote, while Bolsonaro came in at 43 percent.

The election campaign had been conducted in a highly polarized atmosphere with extremely hardball tactics. Lula is considered an icon of the left. Bolsonaro rallies the right-wing political spectrum behind him.

According to insiders, the electoral authorities are preparing for Bolsonaro to contest the result, as he had repeatedly indicated in recent months. They said that security precautions had been taken in case his supporters took to the streets.

On Election Day, police street checks had raised fears among Lula's supporters that they were being prevented from voting. Some of Bolsonaro's supporters blatantly called for a military coup. However, the streets remained nonviolent into the night.

Tears in Bolsonaro's camp.

"In any country in the world, the losing candidate would have called me to admit defeat," Lula told his supporters in São Paulo, a city of millions. "He still hasn't called me. I don't know if he will call or concede." He continued, "I'd like to be just happy, but I'm half happy, half worried."

Many of his supporters associate Lula with Brazil's golden age when the economy boomed due to high commodity prices. The government used social programs to lift millions out of abject poverty. On the other hand, Lula is responsible for corruption and nepotism for his opponents.

The election in Brazil also has an essential international significance. As a vast carbon reservoir, the Amazon plays a vital role in the fight against global climate change. In addition, Brazil's vast natural resources, high green energy content, and predominantly agricultural economy make it a potentially important trading partner.

On Twitter on Sunday, Lula posted a picture of the Brazilian flag with one hand. Above it read "Democracy." Thousands of supporters of the Workers' Party (PT) candidate celebrated Lula's victory on the boulevard Avenida Paulista.

"I will govern for 215 million Brazilians," Lula said Sunday night (local time) in his first post-election speech in São Paulo. "There are no two Brazil, only one people." Now, he said, is the moment to restore peace.

French President Emmanuel Macron immediately congratulated Lula on the election. "A new chapter is being opened in Brazil's history," he wrote on Twitter. "We will join forces to overcome the many common challenges and renew the bond of friendship between our two countries."

Macron has recently clashed fiercely with Brazilian President Bolsonaro, particularly over international environmental policy.