Brazil decides tomorrow Sunday!
Brazil
São Paulo/Río de Janeiro, Oct 24 (EFE).- By Carlos Meneses
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and opposition senator Flávio Bolsonaro concluded their campaigns with large rallies in the country’s largest voting districts on Saturday. This comes on the eve of the closest runoff election in Brazil’s recent history.
On Saturday morning, Lula led a “red tide” that filled Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro. In the afternoon, he traveled to São Paulo for another rally that drew massive crowds.
Flávio, son of former far-right President Jair Bolsonaro (2019-2023), imitated his father and led a motorcycle ride through Belo Horizonte, the capital of Minas Gerais, a key swing state.
The senator marched through Rio de Janeiro, his political birthplace, in a symbolic act that ended at the house where his father once lived. The former president is currently under house arrest in Brasília after being sentenced to 27 years in prison for attempting a coup. Flávio has promised to pardon his father if he wins the election.
On Saturday, both candidates drew tens of thousands of people in the final stretch of the presidential race, marked by excitement in the streets and on social media. This brought to a close a grueling election campaign that began on Aug. 16 amid intense polarization.
The results will be known on Sunday when nearly 159 million Brazilians head to the polls to elect their next president. The winner will take office on Jan. 5, 2027.
Flávio enters the runoff with momentum after receiving the most votes in the first round, 47%.
Lula, who trailed by two points, faces a significant challenge: no candidate has overturned the result in a runoff since the country returned to democracy in 1985.
It’s expected to be a nail-biter until the very end, as all polls show the two candidates in a dead heat.
‘A threat to democracy,’ Lula warns
Nevertheless, Lula, who is about to turn 81, said he was “very optimistic” and convinced that he will become president for the fourth time.
“You can write that down: Tomorrow, I will be elected president of the republic again,” the progressive leader told reporters before the march in Copacabana.
The Workers’ Party (PT) candidate also lashed out at his opponent, expressing outrage at the possibility that a “militiaman,” a “liar,” and an “unqualified” person might occupy the Planalto Palace, alluding to Bolsonaro Jr.’s alleged ties to paramilitary groups in Rio.
“We will convince society of the risks facing democracy, freedom, and decent people in this country,” said the president, who held a copy of the Constitution in one hand and waved the Brazilian flag in the other during his visits to Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.
Meanwhile, Flávio stated that Brazil “has grown tired of waiting” for Lula and wants “change.”
“Unfortunately, the current government promises a lot but delivers nothing. Brazil is no longer divided between left and right. Everyone is on the same side, the side of change,” he said in a video shared on his social media accounts, accompanied by his wife, Fernanda Bolsonaro.
The Brazilian elections have generated high expectations throughout Latin America. A victory for Flávio would mark the culmination of the region’s shift to the right, while Lula’s reelection would preserve a strategic progressive stronghold and slow that trend.
In this context, former Chilean president Gabriel Boric released an emotional message addressed to the PT candidate: “Lula has changed many people’s lives for the better, and he is never satisfied because he knows more can be done.”
Argentine President Javier Milei once again spoke out in support of Flávio, calling Lula a “thief” and a “liar,” as during the latest televised debate on Friday night, Lula said that some Argentines eat donkey meat because of the spending cuts implemented by the libertarian leader.EFE
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