Brazil is headed to a presidential runoff after Senator Flávio Bolsonaro outperformed expectations in Sunday's first round, taking roughly 47 per cent of the vote to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's 45 per cent.
The result beat poll forecasts and sets up an October 25 second round that will decide the future of Latin America's biggest economy and its 214 million people. Neither candidate cleared the threshold needed to win outright.
The runoff promises a bitter three-week campaign between the Bolsonaro political machine and Lula's Workers' Party, with the outcome carrying major implications for the region's economy, climate policy and alliances.
