Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva , the Brazilian president, has vowed that dictatorship and fascism will never return to Brazil after winning a historic fourth term in power by defeating his far-right opponent, Flávio Bolsonaro.

“This is God’s work – and it’s thanks to all of you,” Lula told tens of thousands of supporters who had gathered in central São Paulo in the early hours of Monday to celebrate his dramatic election comeback.

A few hours earlier, Lula pulled off the most stunning political fightback in modern Brazilian history, bouncing back from a first-round defeat in early October to trounce Bolsonaro by more than 4m votes in the runoff.

“Today is a historic day,” Lula declared, before telling a sea of elated supporters: “Democracy always, dictatorship never again.…