© 2025 Connecticut Public

FCC Public Inspection Files:
WEDH · WEDN · WEDW · WEDY
WEDW-FM · WNPR · WPKT · WRLI-FM
Public Files Contact · ATSC 3.0 FAQ
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Brazil's Bolsonaro avoids conceding defeat, but begins transition to winner Lula

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro speaks during a news conference at Alvorada Palace in Brasília, Brazil, on Tuesday. Bolsonaro vowed to follow the constitution in his first speech after narrowly losing Sunday's runoff election to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, but didn't formally concede.
Arthur Menescal
/
Bloomberg via Getty Images
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro speaks during a news conference at Alvorada Palace in Brasília, Brazil, on Tuesday. Bolsonaro vowed to follow the constitution in his first speech after narrowly losing Sunday's runoff election to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, but didn't formally concede.

Updated November 1, 2022 at 5:58 PM ET

Almost two days after Sunday's vote, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro finally made his first statement about the election but did not concede that he lost to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

"As president and as a citizen I will continue to follow all the commandments of our constitution," Bolsonaro said in a news conference in Brasília on Tuesday.

In his remarks, which lasted just 2 minutes, he didn't mention the election winner, popularly known as Lula, by name.

After the brief statement, Bolsonaro's chief of staff, Ciro Nogueira, told reporters that the incumbent president authorized him to "begin the transition process."

Bolsonaro lost Sunday's runoff election 49.1% to da Silva's 50.9% — the slimmest margin in Brazil going back at least to its return to democracy in the 1980s.

His silence until now fueled concerns that he would refuse to recognize the results, even as political allies and others close to Bolsonaro publicly acknowledged his defeat and called on him to respect the vote.

Bolsonaro — an admirer of former President Donald Trump — has repeatedly made unfounded allegations about voter fraud in Brazil's electronic voting system. He once said "only God" would remove him from office.

On election night, President-elect da Silva said to supporters in São Paulo, "Anywhere else in the world, the president who lost would have called me by now and conceded."

Trucker protests

Truck drivers loyal to Bolsonaro have blocked roads in over a dozen Brazilian states, causing disruptions. The road to São Paulo's international airport was blocked and many flights were canceled.

Many truckers are among the most diehard of Bolsonaro supporters, having benefited from policies such as lowering diesel costs.

On Tuesday morning, the Brazilian Supreme Court ordered federal highway police to clear the blockades.

In his brief national address later Tuesday, Bolsonaro said the protests were a "popular movement" resulting from "indignation and a sense of injustice" over the election. But he said demonstrators should avoid "impeding the right to come and go" or destroying property.


This story has been updated from a previous version about President Jair Bolsonaro's silence since losing the Brazilian election.

Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Carrie Kahn is NPR's International Correspondent based in Mexico City, Mexico. She covers Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central America. Kahn's reports can be heard on NPR's award-winning news programs including All Things Considered, Morning Edition and Weekend Edition, and on NPR.org.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.

SOMOS CONNECTICUT is an initiative from Connecticut Public, the state’s local NPR and PBS station, to elevate Latino stories and expand programming that uplifts and informs our Latino communities. Visit CTPublic.org/latino for more stories and resources. For updates, sign up for the SOMOS CONNECTICUT newsletter at ctpublic.org/newsletters.

SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.

Related Content