Brasilia (AFP) – The leftist president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and his conservative rival Flávio Bolsonaro throw all kinds of accusations against each other to win Sunday's elections in Brazil, where the United States suspended its consular services this Friday in an unprecedented measure taken for security reasons.

First modification: 10/02/2026 - 14:34 Last modification: 10/02/2026 - 16:42

The veteran Lula, 80, faces Senator Bolsonaro, 45, who seeks to ride the regional conservative wave encouraged by Donald Trump, an ally of his father, the far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro.

The president of the United States said Thursday that he is following these elections "very closely."

Washington suspended its consular services in Brazil on Friday due to "security concerns." Australia closed its embassy for the same reason, but neither delegation specified the risks detected.

"It's something unprecedented, it doesn't make the slightest sense. It's one of Trump's ways of challenging Brazilian public opinion," Edinho Silva, Lula's campaign coordinator, reacted to journalists.

The polls give an advantage to the leftist, but foresee a runoff on October 25, where both candidates, who did not face each other in any face-to-face, appear evenly matched.

Many will vote without conviction, between a president who aspires to govern for the fourth time and a surname -Bolsonaro- present in the last three elections.

Marcelo Vilanova, 32, manager of a fishmonger in Juiz de Fora (southeast), said he will support Lula because he is the "lesser evil."

Lucas Sales, 38, owner of a telephone store in the same city, will vote for Bolsonaro even though "he is not the best option."

The campaign was marked by corruption scandals, including an investigation against Flávio Bolsonaro, and the final stretch was dominated by controversies that emerged on social networks.

Holy controversy

Favorite among Catholics, Lula echoed false information according to which Bolsonaro intended to withdraw the title of patron saint of Brazil from Nossa Senhora Aparecida, in an alleged nod to evangelicals who do not venerate this virgin.

The religious vote is coveted in Brazil, one of the countries with the most Christians in the world.

For his part, Flávio Bolsonaro accused Lula of being "sexist" for having said that men are "cowards" to examine their prostate, while "women learn to receive touch from a young age" at the gynecologist.

"Brazil has become a joke, when election time starts I turn off the television," Gisele Sousa, a 45-year-old commercial employee in Juiz de Fora, told AFP.

"Brazil can't take it anymore"

Both candidates believe in victory from the first round.

"The elections will be decided on Sunday. And if not, be patient," Lula said.

Flávio Bolsonaro affirmed that the leftist "will be expelled" from the presidency. "Brazil can't take it anymore."

Lula's third term closes with unemployment at a minimum, inflation contained, but at the same time a slowing economy and insecurity that alarms Brazilians.

In the campaign he sought the support of the popular classes: he increased the endowment of the Bolsa Familia social assistance program and banned online betting, a scourge that puts millions in debt.

Until now, the Republican did not explicitly support Flávio Bolsonaro, although he supported his father during his coup trial after losing re-election against Lula in 2022. He was sentenced to 27 years in prison.

An active support for Trump "would be bad" for the senator, a source in Lula's government tells AFP, due to the Republican's unpopularity among a large part of Brazilians.

On the other hand, they agree: a source from the Bolsonaro campaign told AFP that a few words from Trump to Bolsonaro would be "unnecessary."

Polls that underestimate

Flávio Bolsonaro, barely known a few months ago at the national level, is hot on Lula's heels and his voting intention did not suffer despite being investigated for possible corruption, after having asked a banker arrested for fraud for money for a film about his father.

The senator, who defines himself as more moderate than Jair Bolsonaro, promises a tough line against insecurity, among the main social concerns.

"In the last four elections, the Brazilian right was 3% to 4% higher than what the polls said," Senator Rogério Marinho, Bolsonaro's campaign manager, recalled to AFP.

© 2026 AFP

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