Brazil needs “real change,” says Bolsonaro, son of imprisoned former president Jair Bolsonaro, as he casts his vote in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday.
“Brazil cannot handle four more years of this. Everyone’s life has become worse,” he said, according to the AP.
Fabianne Borges Santoro, a 45-year-old physiotherapist in Rio de Janeiro, is one of those who agrees. She is voting for change, both in terms of safety and the cost of living.
“Everything is very expensive and the taxes are too high,” she tells the AP.
Social reforms
Voters for Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, in turn, praise the president’s efforts on social reforms, which critics say have cost too much.
“Even though people call it handouts, it has been a huge help to us. Anyone who has ever gone hungry knows that you should not take these programs for granted,” Walter dos Santos, 56, from Lula’s home region in northeastern Brazil, where the president has strong support, told AFP.
The candidates’ views differ widely. Lula da Silva and Bolsonaro disagree on most issues, from climate change and social welfare to relations with the United States.
“Ethically unqualified”
When Lula casts his vote in the state of São Paulo, he criticizes Bolsonaro’s close ties to the United States and its President, Donald Trump.
“The right wants to govern with the American flag,” he says, according to Brazilian broadcaster Globo, and attacks his rival:
I could never have imagined that I would be running in an election against someone so morally and ethically unqualified.
In the first round of the election on October 4, Lula received just over 45 percent of the vote, while Bolsonaro received 47 percent. Since neither received more than 50 percent, the matter will be decided in today’s second round.
