Flávio Bolsonaro leads Lula as Brazil heads to a runoff
Por Eva Hartog — POLITICO – TOP Stories
SAO PAULO — Brazilian conservative Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro emerged in pole position from a first round of voting Sunday, spelling a pro-Washington turn in the country.
The general vote in Brazil — the largest economy and largest democracy in Latin America with the second biggest rare earths reserves in the world — has pitted the incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva against Bolsonaro, a Trump ally.
With 99% of ballots counted, Bolsonaro had 47% of the vote, with Lula trailing behind with 45%.
Since neither presidential candidate secured a majority, the final question of who will be named Brazil’s next president will only be settled in a runoff on Oct. 25.
On Sunday, many voters said the two campaigns, dogged by corruption scandals and polarizing rhetoric, failed to inspire them, despite opposing stances on central voter issues such as crime, corruption, the economy and climate conservation.
At 80, Lula is seeking a fourth nonconsecutive term, having dominated the left flank of Brazilian politics with his progressive Workers’ Party (PT) for nearly a quarter of a century.
Meanwhile, Bolsonaro is widely considered to be a less magnetic stand-in for his father Jair, the far-right former president convicted of instigating a coup after losing the last election. Should he and his Liberal Party (PL) win, Flávio has vowed to release him.
“I’m not happy with my decision, but I’m going with it because I think it’s the least bad option,” said Ana Oliveira, a marketing executive out for Sunday brunch with her family, explaining her vote for Lula.
Taking a break nearby, Rogerio Cunha, а food delivery worker, said he was disappointed with economic progress under Lula and was going to give Bolsonaro his vote.
“Something’s not working so something has to change,” he said, complaining of difficult living conditions.
The role of the United States, and President Donald Trump, has loomed large over the campaign — up until, and on, election day itself.
On Sunday, Brazil’s Federal Police said it was looking into claims of U.S. electoral interference at the request of the country’s Attorney General’s Office.
A Bolsonaro victory would entrench the continent’s conservative turn, with Trump-aligned candidates having previously won elections across the region, including in Colombia and Peru.
Bolsonaro has actively wooed Trump, offering up Brazil’s vast rare earth reserves as “the solution” to America’s dependence on China. If he wins, Brazil is also expected to join Trump’s Shield of the Americas initiative against drug crime.
Trump has stopped short of openly endorsing Bolsonaro, saying Thursday only that he’s monitoring the election “very closely.”
He has, however, tried to sway the outcome indirectly, imposing a 50% tariff on Brazil last year over what he referred to as a “witch hunt” against the senior Bolsonaro, and new tariffs this year.
The move ended up backfiring after Lula cast the latest round of tariffs as an attack on national sovereignty, winning him support.
On Friday, two days before the vote, the U.S. suspended consular services, citing security concerns but without providing additional details.
Should Lula win, he will likely continue to resist Trump’s effort to recruit Brazil into the fold as he seeks to exert his influence over the Western Hemisphere.
In a UN General Assembly speech in late September, Lula criticized foreign electoral interference and “neocolonial incursions,” warning: “Brazil doesn’t fit in anyone’s backyard.” He did not mention the U.S. explicitly.
But Lula isn’t the only one to have used the debate around Washington’s role to inject new energy into the campaign.
A rally in support of Bolsonaro on Sept. 7 along Sao Paulo’s central Paulista Avenue featured American flags and a giant Trump balloon holding a Lula doll.
In a rebuttal Saturday, on the eve of the election, at a rally on the same thoroughfare, Lula’s supporters carried a large banner reading: “Trump, it is Brazil that gets to decide here.”
“Let Trump say what he wants to say. Brazil is an independent country,” said Cunha, the food delivery worker.
Whoever becomes the next president, though symbolically important, might turn out to be less consequential than it first appears given the results from the evening’s legislative races.
On Sunday, Brazilians also voted for the country’s lower house and two-thirds of the country’s Senate — two legislative institutions that have grown increasingly powerful in recent years, at the expense of the executive.
Voters elected an overwhelmingly right-wing Congress, making it difficult for any left-wing president to govern — even if Lula were to win a second round.
Fonte: POLITICO – TOP Stories
