Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) (AFP) – Flavio Bolsonaro inherited his father's name and electoral base, but not the aura that helped Jair Bolsonaro reshape the Brazilian right.
Published on: 02/10/2026 - 12:28
This does not prevent him from being neck and neck with Lula in the race for the presidential election, the first round of which takes place on Sunday.
This 45-year-old senator was little known at the national level before the former president (2019-2022), now under house arrest for attempted coup d'état, designated him as his political heir.
Although he is the target of an investigation for suspicion of corruption, his surname was enough for him to establish himself as a serious competitor against left-wing candidate Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who is seeking a fourth term at the age of 80.
In his interviews, he describes himself as a "more moderate Bolsonaro", but says his father will remain his "compass".
“It is difficult to compare Pelé’s son to Pelé,” he admitted during a meeting in Rio de Janeiro.
If the provocations, invectives and challenges to institutions launched by Jair Bolsonaro have made him a scarecrow for some, the tempestuous captain remains the essential reference for the conservative camp.
His supporters are ready to transfer their vote to the one he chose.
“I would have preferred Jair. But since Jair is not there, I am voting for Flavio,” Marco Antonio da Rosa, a 21-year-old law student present at the Rio meeting, told AFP.
Deepfake
Born in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Flavio is the eldest of the former head of state's four sons, and the one who most resembles him physically, even in his relaxed manner.
He sometimes lets a few tears flow when he talks about his father's fate. He even summoned it in the form of a larger-than-life deepfake when launching his candidacy.
Jair Bolsonaro is serving a 27-year prison sentence at home for seeking to stay in power after his defeat by Lula in 2022.
A lawyer by profession, Flavio Bolsonaro became a deputy for the state of Rio at 21, then a senator at 37.
Married and father of two daughters, he is of evangelical faith, which has become a major electoral base for the conservative camp.
"Besides"
Flavio Bolsonaro has not lost his ground despite a campaign shaken by crises.
He found himself at the heart of a quarrel with his mother-in-law, Michelle Bolsonaro, who accused him of having “mistreated” her, against a backdrop of power rivalries. The former First Lady ended up accepting his apology.
Above all, an audio recording was leaked in which we hear Flavio Bolsonaro asking banker Daniel Vorcaro - accused in a resounding fraud case - to finance a film about his father.
Bolsonaro's son, who denied any contact with the financier, disputes any irregularity, but is under investigation for suspicion of corruption and money laundering.
Asked why he repeatedly called Daniel Vorcaro "my brother", he replied that it was the colloquial way of speaking among Cariocas.
Another older scandal also pursues him: a member of parliament for Rio, he was accused of having taken part of his assistants' salaries as part of a system of kickbacks. The case was dismissed.
- Fighter plane -
On social networks, Flavio Bolsonaro relies on slick campaign spots, generated by artificial intelligence. He sometimes appears there in a flight suit and aviator glasses, at the controls of a fighter plane on a mission to Brazil.
He boasts of maintaining good relations with American President Donald Trump - his father's ally - who received him at the White House.
A supporter of the hard line against crime, in a country exasperated by the level of violence, he praises the security policies of Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, vilified by human rights defenders.
“Compared to his father, he is more affable and sociable (...) but that does not mean that he is not ideologically far-right,” said political analyst Thomas Traumann.
If he wins in October, Flavio Bolsonaro has pledged not to seek re-election in four years.
© 2026 AFP
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