Lula's comeback in Brazil dents Trump's ambitions for Latin America
The Trump-Lula relationship may have thawed, but several issues could reignite tensions between the two leaders.
"Brazil will not accept being anyone's backyard," Brazil's left-wing President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva declared in his election victory speech, a message squarely aimed at Washington.
Domestic elections are rarely won on foreign policy, and this one was no different. But Lula's defiance against what he has described as US interference in Brazilian affairs evoked a patriotic spirit that proved an effective campaigning tool.
It also chimed with his wider brand of politics as a former union leader: standing up to powerful figures.
Brazil is Latin America's largest economy, and the younger Bolsonaro was expected to join Trump's "Shield of Americas" coalition against narco-trafficking.