– I’m scared, says 50-year-old Cicilia Tidge, whom I meet in the Copacabana district here in Rio de Janeiro. – If the left wins the election, things will go badly for Brazil. Then we will become a new Venezuela or Cuba. Others I meet have a completely different fear. The pensioner João dos Santos does not believe that the incumbent president, Jair Bolsonaro, will give up power voluntarily if he loses the election. Cicilia Tidge votes for Bolsonaro and fears that the left will win the election. Photo: Arnt Stefansen / news – I am afraid that he will act like his great role model, Donald Trump in the USA. That he will incite his followers to fight to retain power. The contradictions are bitter ahead of the elections here in Brazil on 2 October. The two main candidates, Lula da Silva and Jair Bolsonaro, are miles apart – politically and personally. Many believe that it is democracy itself that is now at stake here in the world’s sixth most populous country. Lula leads The two leading candidates ahead of the election both have extremely unusual lives and careers behind them. Lula da Silva (76) was born in the deepest poverty in northeastern Brazil. He was a shoe shiner and trade union leader before becoming the country’s president in 2003. When he stepped down in 2011, more than 80 percent of Brazilians thought he had done a good job. Former president Lula da Silva is at around 45 percent in the opinion polls. Photo: Marcelo Chello / AP But eight years later he was jailed for corruption and spent 20 months behind bars before the sentence was overturned. Now he is back as the left’s candidate, and clearly leads the opinion polls ahead of the election in October. Jair Bolsonaro (67) has a past as a professional soldier, but fell out of favor after a conflict with his superiors. He then ventured into politics, and sat for 27 years in the country’s parliament for various parties on the right. In 2018, he was elected president, and is now approaching the end of his four-year term. President Jair Bolsonaro has the support of around 35 percent of voters, the polls show. Photo: DOUGLAS MAGNO / AFP Strength and weakness Brazilian connoisseur Torkjell Leira is coming this week with a new book about Brazil. It is entitled “The art of killing a democracy”, and news has asked him to assess the two main candidates ahead of the election: – Lula’s strongest card is the results and popularity as president in the period 2003-2011. In addition, he is a very good political craftsman and an eminent public speaker, writes the author in an e-mail. Torkjell Leira has written the book “The Art of Killing a Democracy” Photo: Siw Pessar / Res Publica – Lula’s main problem is the corruption suspicions that still hang over him and the PT party. He has also become an old man, and he has been the left’s strongest card ever since 1989. As for Bolsonaro, Leira believes that he is a skilled populist, and that his supporters see him as a man of the people: – In addition, he has strong supporters, and is a master of social media, the author believes. He is nevertheless highly critical of Bolsonaro’s efforts as president: – The economy is going badly. Poverty has exploded. And deforestation in the Amazon has almost doubled. In addition, he handled the corona pandemic very poorly, writes author and Brazil expert Torkjell Leira.
ttn-69
The election campaign of fear in Brazil – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
