Bolsonaro and Lula run for president in the final stretch of the most tense election campaign since the end of the military dictatorship in 1985
There are citizens who do not want to wear the shirts with the colors of the candidates Jair Bolsonaro, the current president, and Lula da Silva, the top favorite to win the elections to be held in Brazil next Sunday. Others prefer silence to the question ‘Who will you vote for?’ Not answering seems to be the best decision. Last Saturday, at a bar in the town of Cascavel, a man walked into a bar and said, “Who’s a voter for Lula here?” A brave man came out and answered, “That’s me.” He was eventually killed. In case both candidates attend their events wearing body armor. According to some analysts, it is the most tense climate seen in elections since the end of the military dictatorship in 1985.
Brazil is a country that, during the four years of Bolsonaro’s mandate, has seen a rise in unemployment, social inequality and violence, and has left its indigenous peoples bleeding as never before other governments have done. It is precisely the attacks on indigenous peoples and their land that have led to a 36% increase in the number of candidates from these regions for state or federal delegates. The data is striking because only two candidates were proposed between 1982 and 2018. For this election there is a record of 181.
Human Rights Watch recommended candidates two months ago, following the death of a Lula supporter by a Bolsonaro supporter, who they are trying to demonstrate without violence: “In a democracy, Brazilians should be able to participate in election debates without fear of retaliation for their political positions .
The fear of much of the population is based on how Bolsonaro and his supporters would accept defeat, as they seem unwilling to do so. The latest survey, published Monday, shows that former President Lula would be re-elected, according to the count of valid votes that would give him a 52% to 34% victory. But nothing is definitively written and no one rules out the need for a second round.
Expectations are now being set about the message the candidates will send in Thursday’s final televised debate, and what the voters’ reaction will be. Bolsonaro’s advisers confirm that the president’s strategy will not change. In other words, he will continue to demonize his greatest rival, Lula, and praise what he considers his great achievements.
The country’s main media has been positioned against Bolsonaro as Brazil has declined or stagnated during his reign, while the number of people with weapons, crime and violence has increased. The criticism is also heightened by the fact that more than half of the Brazilian population lives with some degree of food insecurity and 33 million people are starving.
Sources of candidate Lula accuse Bolsonaro of halting the country’s largest water access program from the northeast. They claim that the executive has stopped building water reservoirs that ensured access to water for families living with the drought the country is suffering.
In his first act this Tuesday, Lula met sports leaders. There was an expectation to know if, in the event that he wins the election, Lula would get back the Ministry of Sports, which would become a secretariat along with Bolsonaro. But he didn’t say anything about that.
Source: La Verdad
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