Win for Lula boosts China’s foothold and gives Brazil rare earths leverage

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Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s re-election preserves Beijing’s most critical foothold in Latin America, while positioning Brasilia to leverage the US-China rivalry over its vast rare earth reserves without picking sides. Lula, 80, secured an unprecedented fourth term on Sunday after winning 51.8 per cent of the run-off vote to defeat right-wing rival Flavio Bolsonaro. The son of jailed former president Jair Bolsonaro and Trump ally has, however, refused to concede. Beijing...