– Why do you support Bolsonaro? I ask a woman in a yellow football shirt during an event at Copacabana beach here in Rio. – Because he has put an end to corruption, is the answer. Her name is Neite Santos, and she is a strong opponent of the left and the former president Lula da Silva. – We absolutely do not want the corrupt Lula back. And our Brazilian flag must not turn red, she says firmly. The fact that the corruption convictions against Lula da Silva have been overturned has no meaning for her and other supporters of President Jair Bolsonaro. For Bolsonaro voter Neite Santos from Rio, the fight against corruption is the most important issue in the election. Photo: Arnt Stefansen / news A deeply divided Brazil goes to the polls today in what has been called “the most important election in the country for decades”. “Last chance” On Friday evening, the left-wing Lula da Silva and the right-wing candidate Jair Bolsonaro met for the final debate on Brazil’s largest TV channel Globo. The debate was referred to by many as “Bolsonaro’s last chance to win the election”, after he has lagged behind his competitor in almost all election polls. But the more than two-hour-long settlement was unlikely to lead to many voters expressing their opinion, according to the commentators. The insults rained down during the final televised debate between Bolsonaro and Lula. Photo: MAURO PIMENTEL / AFP Most opinion polls give Lula da Silva a lead of 4-8 percentage points. But some polls predict an even race, and one of them predicts a victory for Bolsonaro. The president was severely underestimated in the polls ahead of the first round of voting, and the election is considered in practice to be completely open. At 9pm tonight, Norwegian time, the polling stations close, and a decision is expected two to three hours later. Does he accept defeat? It has been a long election campaign, and the tension is enormous among Brazilians now that the decision will finally be made. But the excitement is not only linked to the result. For a long time, Jair Bolsonaro has criticized the Brazilian electoral system, and during a demonstration on last year’s national day, he stated the following: Does Jair Bolsonaro accept the election results if he loses? Photo: MAURO PIMENTEL / AFP – I have received a call. And only God can remove me from this position, said the president. Many are therefore wondering what he will do if he loses today’s election. He himself answers as follows: – An election that goes right should and must be respected. But he will assess for himself whether the election has gone right for him. And he will not give an unreserved promise to respect the result. Enmity and fake news The weeks leading up to today’s election have largely been about talking down the opponent. Little has been said about how to concretely shape the policy and bring Brazil out of the shadow of the pandemic. The Bolsonaro campaign has been characterized by slogans such as: “God, fatherland, family and freedom”. While Lula has promised “to take Brazil back” and “to give the poor a decent life”. Never before has Brazil experienced an election campaign with so much hostility and so much fake news. After every televised debate, the newspapers have had long lists of statements containing factual errors. Leftist candidate Lula da Silva meets voters in Rio de Janeiro. Photo: Partido Trabalhista The Supreme Court has time and again intervened and stopped illegal claims in the election campaign. And the words “lie” and “lies” have been used extensively – at election meetings, in TV debates and on social media. Important for Norway Bolsonaro’s year in power has been demanding for the Norwegian authorities. In 2019, there was an open conflict when Norway stopped payments from the Amazonas fund. And the president said the following: – Isn’t Norway the country that kills whales up there at the North Pole? And who extracts oil there? They have nothing to teach us, Jair Bolsonaro said at the time. Norway’s Consul General in Rio de Janeiro, Marianne Fosland. Photo: Eirik Tufteland Kroken / news And Norway’s major climate investment is still on hold. The idea of the Amazon Fund is to reward Brazil for forest conservation. But under Bolsonaro, deforestation has increased by more than 70 percent. The left-wing candidate, Lula da Silva, promises a new course if he wins the election. More than a hundred Norwegian companies have invested in Brazil over the past two decades, says Consul General Marianne Fosland here in Rio: – It is the largest market after the EU and the USA, and Norwegian companies have invested NOK 320 billion here in Brazil. The businessman Kjetil Solbrække, who owns an oil company in Rio, believes that Jair Bolsonaro is the face of Brazil to the outside world is a burden: – I have seen it very clearly. Because of Bolsonaro, people have been very skeptical about investing in Brazil.
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Lula against Bolsonaro. Brazil holds its breath – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
