The campaign for the second round of the presidential elections in Brazil, which will be held this Sunday, concluded this Saturday with large mobilizations led by the president and candidate for re-election, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and by the far-right candidate, Flávio Bolsonaro.
Both have poured their last efforts into the main capitals of southeastern Brazil. The leader of the Workers' Party (PT), Lula da Silva, has starred in events in Rio de Janeiro and later in São Paulo, while the standard-bearer of the Liberal Party (PL), Flávio, first gathered his supporters in Belo Horizonte before traveling to Rio de Janeiro, where he led an event in Barra de Tijuca, according to the Brazilian newspaper "Globo".
The current president started the day in Copacabana, in the southern zone of Rio de Janeiro. Accompanied by the First Lady, Janja da Silva, Congresswoman Benedita da Silva, and other leaders, he managed to gather thousands of supporters along the waterfront, from where Lula traveled the area on a truck with sound equipment, greeting and addressing voters.
After the massive event in Rio, the candidate for re-election moved to São Paulo for the formal closing of his campaign. The central event took place on Avenida Paulista, the usual epicenter of large political demonstrations in the city, which was filled with Lula's supporters to the point of preventing the circulation of vehicles transporting the president and other guests.
In his final speech, the progressive candidate wanted to emphasize the magnitude of citizen participation. "For many years, even the oldest voters, who participate in political campaigns, had not seen a social mobilization like the one we witnessed in this second round," he highlighted, insisting that it is "the people who organize themselves, not the parties."
Lula added that he is "convinced" that he will prevail at the polls, arguing that Brazilian society demands a "structural change that makes Brazil move in the right direction."
Flávio Bolsonaro in Belo Horizonte and Rio de Janeiro
For his part, the far-right candidate, Flávio Bolsonaro, has begun the final stretch of his campaign in Belo Horizonte, in the southeast of the country, a state that analysts consider key to the electoral outcome.
The capital of Minas Gerais has hosted a massive motorcycle caravan driven by its supporters, who initially gathered in Liberty Square. Flávio has been surrounded by political allies such as deputy Nikolas Ferreira and the newly elected governor of the state, Cleitinho Azevedo. However, the candidate has not delivered any speech during the event in Belo Horizonte.
Subsequently, the far-right figure has moved to Rio de Janeiro to participate in a rally on the waterfront of Barra da Tijuca. There he has toured the area on a truck, greeting a crowd of supporters, accompanied by Ferreira, the governor of São Paulo Tarcísio de Freitas, and the elected governor of Rio de Janeiro, Douglas Ruas.
At this event, the ultraliberal candidate expressed his gratitude to his supporters for the backing received and stated his confidence in achieving victory in the second round, asserting that tomorrow "Brazil will already have a new president." He concluded his speech by inviting the audience to pray a Our Father.
Latest poll: technical tie
The polling firm Quaest has released this Saturday its latest survey, which gives Bolsonaro 51% of the support compared to 49% for Lula, with a margin of error of 2%. Thus, the result is situated in a scenario of technical tie, as the difference between both candidates falls within the statistical margin of error.
This is the last measurement before the final voting this Sunday, which will take place between 08:00 and 17:00 (local time).
Lula faces this second round boosted by the projections of recent polls, after the setback that his defeat in the first round represented. The Brazilian president faces the challenge of reversing that result, something that no candidate has achieved so far in the largest democracy in the region.