The Albany Gazette - Lula, Bolsonaro hold final rallies ahead of Brazil election

Both candidates will seek to flex their support in front of massive crowds in key cities as the nail-biting wait to decide the fate of Latin America's largest nation draws to an end.

A Datalfolha institute poll this week showed them tied with 50 percent of voting intentions.

Sunday's runoff will determine whether Brazil remains one of the few leftist nations in the region or joins the ranks of right-wing governments friendly with US President Donald Trump.

Bolsonaro, son of far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro, nabbed a shock first-round lead with 47 percent of the vote over Lula's 45 percent.

The political left jolted awake after the result, flooding the streets with huge protests and launching an intense digital campaign that hopes to carry Lula to a fourth, non-consecutive term.

The president, who turns 81 next week, will make his first campaign visit to Rio de Janeiro's Copacabana Beach on Saturday before plunging into the crowds on Sao Paulo's Avenida Paulista.

His 45-year-old rival will travel to the city of Belo Horizonte before visiting the house in Rio where his father recovered after being stabbed during his ultimately successful presidential campaign in 2018.

- 'The lesser evil' -

In their final debate on Friday night, the rivals struck a calmer tone than their first showdown, which descended into insults and was empty of policy proposals.

Lula attacked the senator's lack of experience while Bolsonaro accused the president of leaving behind a "broken country."

"He doesn't know what hunger is," Brazil's first working-class president said of Bolsonaro, who asked the incumbent: "Why are things so expensive?"

Bolsonaro has styled himself as a moderate version of his firebrand father, who is serving 27 years for attempting a coup after his electoral loss to Lula in 2022.

He has promised to resolve Brazil's crime woes, create 500,000 more spots in prisons and slash government spending.

"I think a change is necessary," Igor de Assis Coutinho, a 42-year-old cook in Sao Paulo, told AFP.

"Nowadays, when you go to the market, your money is worth nothing."

The acrimonious campaign -- largely based on fear-mongering -- showed just how deep polarization runs in Brazil.

"If there were any other candidate, that would be a better option. But we're stuck choosing between the worst, the horrible, and the lesser evil," said event organizer Gabriela Ribeiro Viana, 29.

- Two paths -

All eyes across Latin America are glued on the election, which comes after a string of right-wing wins across the region.

Lula accuses the Trump administration and US tech giant Meta of election interference, and both his and Bolsonaro's campaigns have taken legal action accusing the other of abusing social media.

The leftist leader is credited with lifting millions of Brazilians out of poverty through his flagship welfare programs, and he has leaned heavily into that legacy on the campaign trail.

Lula "has been on the side of the poor," said cleaner Damiao da Silva.

"Do the rich care whether the poor have beans to eat, whether they have rice or a chicken leg to eat?" he asked.

(P.Davis--TAG)