Brazil’s Election Draws to a Close

“As one of Brazil’s most bitterly fought election campaigns draws to a close, far-right president Jair Bolsonaro and his challenger, veteran leftist Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, agree on one thing: the future of one of the world’s largest democracies is at stake,” the Financial Times reports.

“Lula, who was president of Brazil from 2003 to 2010, leads a broad coalition of the centre and left that has united behind the idea that a second term for Bolsonaro would do irreversible damage to the country’s institutions and spur a slide towards strongman rule. For Bolsonaro and his conservative supporters in agribusiness, the evangelical churches and the army and police, a Lula victory would set Brazil on the path towards the style of socialism in Cuba or Venezuela and erode traditional values.”

“The result of Sunday’s vote hangs on a knife’s edge after a campaign marred by mudslinging and political violence. Polls suggest Lula has a narrow lead, but such surveys had underestimated Bolsonaro’s support in a first-round vote earlier this month.”