Lula, Bolsonaro trade scandal fire in final scramble for votes

BRASILIA

Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and his election rival Flavio Bolsonaro are leaving no controversy unturned in their last-ditch efforts to discredit each other and win over voters ahead of Oct. 4’s nail-biter election.

A campaign dominated by scandals and insults has done little to ease the deep political polarization in Latin America’s biggest economy, one of the last major leftist bastions in the region.

The tight race pits Lula, 80, against the son of former far-right president Jair Bolsonaro, a close ally of Donald Trump who has backed a wave of victorious right-wing candidates in Latin America.

Trump said on Oct. 1 he was watching Brazil’s election “very closely.”

Opinion polls predict the vote will go to a runoff on Oct. 25, with Lula and Flavio in a dead heat.

“The race is tied but not at a standstill: The final week will determine where the voters who can still be swayed will go,” Felipe Nunes, director of the Quaest polling institute, told AFP.

Many of the nation’s 160 million registered voters are disenchanted with their options and were deprived of a debate between the leading candidates when both declined to attend a televised program on Oct. 1 evening.

The race for undecided voters has had both sides on alert for anything they can twist to their advantage.

In recent days, Brazil’s beloved patron saint, Our Lady of Aparecida, depicted as a Black Madonna, became the focus as rumors erupted that Flavio Bolsonaro planned to strip her of her post if elected.

Flavio issued fierce denials as Lula took to the campaign trail clutching a statue of the saint, declaring that “messing” with her was “unacceptable.”

The electoral court ordered on Oct. 1 that posts with the “untrue” claims be taken down.

Lula tends to have more support among Catholics while Bolsonaro has the backing of a booming Evangelical population.

Next, Flavio Bolsonaro and his supporters pounced when Lula said that men were “cowards” when it comes to getting their prostates examined, while “women learn to receive a touch from a young age,” referring to gynecological exams.

Clips of his comment circulated widely on social media as if it were an allusion to abuse, and Flavio Bolsonaro accused Lula of being “sexist.”

“It’s really turned into a circus, my vote won’t go to any of them,” said Gisele Sousa, 45, a clothing shop employee.

In another jab during a podcast on Oct. 1, Lula said he was sure he would win in the first round, over a rival he said was not even qualified “to serve as a building manager.”

Veteran leftist Lula is seeking a fourth non-consecutive term, boasting he is fitter than ever despite his advanced age.

The former union leader has overseen a drop in inflation and unemployment while massively curbing deforestation in the Amazon rainforest.

Nevertheless, voters complain about a high cost of living and are fed up with violence and crime.

Flavio Bolsonaro, 45, has remained a tough foe for Lula, even as it emerged he was under investigation for corruption over the financing of the biopic “Dark Horse” about his father.