Brazil enters this Tuesday in electoral campaign with the far-right Jair Bolsonaro and leftist Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva as protagonists of the most polarized presidential dispute in decades.
(Read here: Jair Bolsonaro mocks the use of inclusive language in Argentina)
On the first day of the authorized campaign towards the elections on October 2, both candidates carry out acts loaded with symbolism.
(Also read: Brazil risks its democracy in the next presidential elections)
President Bolsonaro, 67, plans to give a rally from the same corner where he was stabbed in the 2018 campaign, in Juiz de Fora, in the state of Minas Gerais (southeast): “The city where I was reborn”, he said when summoning his followers under the slogan “God, country, family and freedom”.
“The cleanup began four years ago, I want it to continue, for the left to be extirpated from the country,” Jaqueline Lopes, a 50-year-old teacher from Rio de Janeiro, told AFP that she rented an apartment in Juiz de Fora so as not to miss the act.
“Lula, thief, your place is prison!”, followers of the far-right sang in turn, several dressed in Brazilian T-shirts, while awaiting Bolsonaro’s speech on the same street as the attack.
Former President of Brazil Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva
EFE / Carlos Ezequiel Vannoni
“It’s about our future, (…) that of the family, the country, most of the people who are here are faithful to God,” said Márcio Bargiona, a 55-year-old former police officer.
Former President Lula, 76, leader of the polls, will visit an automotive factory in Sao Bernardo do Campo, a metropolitan region of Sao Paulo where he was forged as a union leader in the 1970s.
“Lula seeks to return to Sao Bernardo do Campo (…) because it favors his narrative as a representative of the workers,” Adriano Laureno, a political analyst at the consultancy firm Prospectiva, told AFP.
While Bolsonaro “has sought to build a narrative that he is the ‘divine chosen one,’ and surviving the stab wound plays a central role” in that. The pre-campaign was marked by Bolsonaro’s constant questioning -without evidence- of the reliability of the electronic voting system in Brazil.
His criticism has raised fears that he will not concede defeat and try to emulate former US President Donald Trump, accused of inciting the protests that ended in the violent invasion of the Capitol in Washington in 2021. Bolsonaro “is trying to weaken the electoral system,” he deplored. the NGO Human Rights Watch.
“All candidates should reject baseless allegations of fraud,” he added in a note. To avoid new incidents such as the attack against Bolsonaro in 2018, the security of both candidates was reinforced.
![Protests in Brazil.](https://www.eltiempo.com/images/1x1.png)
View of demonstrations in Brazil (archive photo).
Jonne Roriz/Bloomberg
Bolsonaro shortens distances
Lula, who regained his political rights in 2021 after the annulment of his sentences in the “Lava Jato” anti-corruption mega-causecontinues to lead the polls, although the far-right seems to close the gap.
This Monday, the IPEC consultancy indicated that Lula gathers 44% of the voting intentions in the first roundIn front of a 32% of Bolsonaro, according to their latest survey. Last month, the Datafolha Institute placed Lula with 47% and Bolsonaro with 29%.
![Jair Bolsonaro](https://www.eltiempo.com/images/1x1.png)
Jair Bolsonaro, current president of Brazil.
“It is the most polarized presidential election since redemocratization (1985). It is the first time that we will have a legacy dispute, between a president and a former president,” Laureno highlights.
These are two candidates “very well known, with high voting intentions and loyal followers,” he adds. Bolsonaro has defined the campaign as a battle between “good and evil”, pointing out that Lula’s return to power could mean the installation of “communism” in Brazil.
Lula promises to restore the social gains for the most vulnerable classes that characterized his government, while harshly attacking Bolsonaro for the 680,000 deaths in Brazil during the pandemic.
The main concern of Brazilians, according to surveys, is the economic situation, marked in recent years by high levels of unemployment and inflation that have reduced Bolsonaro’s popularity.
Although the trend is for the president to improve his numbers with the recent drops in fuel prices and the increase in social assistance, the great unknown for analysts is whether he will arrive in time to reverse the numbers.
In addition to the explicit request for votes in public events, as of this Tuesday internet propaganda is allowed, where Bolsonaro especially has millions of followers on social networks.
More than 156 million Brazilians are eligible to vote on October 2, the first round of elections in which positions of deputies, senators and governors of the 26 states of the country are also disputed.
AFP
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