Trump has lost the mid-term elections, and this defeat adds to a series of election results in recent months that have proved wrong those who claim democracies are on their last legs as soon as someone they dislike comes to power. The editor’s comments on Coffee Break on La7

The mystery surrounding Bolsonaro’s alleged escape remains. The jet identified by the Argentine news website Infobae is still in Puerto Iguazú, whilst the Brazilian federal police are investigating to ascertain whether it crossed the border 

The Brazilian presidential candidate, having lost the run-off against Lula, is said to have first travelled to Argentina and from there to the United States. He had received a court order requiring him to hand over his passports and prohibiting him from leaving the country

From Serbia to Brazil, from the United States to Hungary, the rise and fall of nationalist leaders reveal the Achilles’ heel of strongmen: corruption and the unscrupulous use of money. It is on the issues of transparency, the separation of powers and the public interest that the populist bubble bursts, proving that the rise of the right is not inevitable

When the left realised just how foolish it had been to leave online propaganda in the hands of the right, when the PT realised that it would be suicidal to abandon the field of social media propaganda in a young country with a very low average level of education and where people are constantly on their mobile phones, Lula ordered his supporters to fight the opponent with their own weapons  

Economist Daniel Schteingart explores the paradoxes of a region that has achieved prosperity and freedom, yet struggles to grow and build robust institutions. From Lula’s Brazil to Milei’s Argentina, which has reduced inflation but is undermining the productive sector. Why putting the finances in order is not enough to guarantee development

Without Venezuelan petrodollars and with the old funding system now defunct, Lula faces the final sprint against Flávio Bolsonaro. For the PT, a comeback also depends on its ability to mobilise new financial backing, whilst the alliance with Caracas is no longer an asset

Ahead of the run-off on 25 October, what is causing the president concern is the right-wing vote from that huge section of Brazilian society which, over the last twenty years, has moved from abject poverty to low-income status. He was the architect of their social emancipation, but twenty years on, he has failed to tap into their aspirations.

When Flavio Bolsonaro claimed that prisoners vote for the Workers’ Party candidate, Lula retorted that, in that case, his father should also vote for him. “Lying is the Bolsonaro family’s forte”, “Your nose is growing, Lula. Watch out.”