ST. PAUL. “I don’t want to be near her.” Thus the former left-wing president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (2003-2010) has shown that he wants to increase the voltage of the last debate between the two candidates for the presidency of Brazil on Friday evening. The current president and candidate for re-election, Jair Bolsonaro, had wanted to re-propose the strategy displayed in the televised meeting following the first round, where with his size he seemed to want to intimidate the opponent up close, taking advantage of the peculiar format of the Brazilian debates in which candidates walk on stage while arguing. Both used all available means to put the rival on the ropes, in a confrontation that seemed more set up for stand-up than for a political debate. “I apologize to the Brazilian people for this man’s behavior,” was Lula’s most used joke to conclude his interventions. “You are corrupt!” The president retorted.
This Sunday, 156 million voters will have to choose between the former leader of the São Paulo metalworkers’ unions, and the former captain of the Brazilian army, in the most polarized ballot in Brazilian history. And the future of the South American giant is played on a handful of votes according to all the polls. The gap between Lula and Bolsonaro is just over 2 points, and the candidates aimed to attract the undecided, about 7%, by presenting a dismal image of the opponent’s government. “The Brazilian people had money for food, to change the stove, the washing machine, to travel in and out of Brazil,” Lula said at the opening. “Why so much misery since Bolsonaro took office?” “My ministers today are candidates for governors in the second round, they are senators and some deputies. His ministers when they left the government went to prison, ”accused the president. The corruption scandals in the Workers’ Party (PT) during the Lula and Rousseff governments are the first argument raised by supporters of Bolsonaro in any discussion. Lula himself spent 580 days in a Curitiba prison convicted of corruption and money laundering, which was later overturned by the Supreme Court. “You should be in prison,” was Bolsonaro’s leitmotif throughout the debate.
The figure of Roberto Jefferson, a former Bolsonarian deputy who last Sunday resisted arrest with rifle shots and hand grenades in Rio de Janeiro was often evoked by Lula to account for the spirit of the Brazilian far right. Violence has often overshadowed the election campaign. The Observatory of Political Violence of Brazil recorded 215 complaints of which 45 were murders. The opposition links the phenomenon to the relaxation of the restrictions on the carrying of weapons wanted by the current government, one of the great legacies that the next president will have to face. It is estimated that there are at least 4.4 million firearms in circulation in the country, of which a third are without legal permission for use. That is, more civilians are armed than the security forces in the country. “What about this campaign to disarm the country? Did you propose to the drug lords to hand over guns? », He asked his rival Bolsonaro, who assures that the PT is complicit with the main Brazilian drug cartels.
While the two candidates attacked each other in O’Globo’s studios, the streets of Sao Paulo were not breathing as much adrenaline. In the bars and restaurants not everyone followed the debate, and in the typical places with outdoor plastic tables in the intersections, there were many screens that reproduced some football match. The climate, effervescent on social networks and in television studios, is for now more peaceful on the streets. Still, the anticipation for this Sunday’s results is perceptible, and everyone admits that this is a crucial moment in the history of the country.