The Liberal Party of Brazil has officially proclaimed this Saturday Flávio Bolsonaro, son of former president Jair Bolsonaro, as its candidate for the Presidency in the elections of October, at the close of a convention held in Sao Paulo that was attended by Argentine president, Javier Milei, and with the intervention via video of Michelle Bolsonaro, who has requested support for her stepson after weeks of internal tensions were deemed settled.
The event, organized in the Mercado Pago Hall, has developed amidst constant criticism of the left embodied by president Luiz Inácio 'Lula' Da Silva and continuous references to former president Bolsonaro, currently under house arrest to serve a 27-year prison sentence for crimes related to an attempted coup d'état. In this context, Bolsonaro appeared "virtually" through a video generated with artificial intelligence to denounce the "unjust and arbitrary decision" of his imprisonment.
"Blood of my blood, my son Flávio. Come with faith, Brazil has a future and the future is Flávio Bolsonaro as president," concluded the video. Jair Bolsonaro is subject to a precautionary measure that limits his use of social media, both directly and through intermediaries, with the aim of preventing him from promoting his son's candidacy or "using expressions with semantic weight equivalent to the explicit request for votes that may imply early electoral propaganda," as established by Supreme Court judge Alexandre de Moraes.
The intervention of the former first lady has had special weight due to the numerous frictions she has had with Flávio Bolsonaro in recent times. In her message this Saturday, Michelle Bolsonaro specifically addressed the female wing of the party, PL Mulher.
"When good men and women come together to do what is right, there is no greater difficulty than our courage. Flávio, may God bless and protect your candidacy. May He give you and your family wisdom, courage, and strength to fulfill your mission, loyalty, and truth for our future," she stated from the screens of the event center.
For now, according to a survey by Datafolha released this Friday, 'Lula' is at the top in all the second-round scenarios considered. In a simulation of a direct duel with Flávio, the leader of the Workers' Party reaches 48%, while his new opponent stays at 43%. In the first round, 'Lula' also ranks first, with 40% of voting intentions, which represents an 8 percentage point advantage over the senator, who totals 32%.
Rejection of visas to U.S. officials
In parallel, the Brazilian government confirmed this Saturday that it has rejected the visa for two senior officials from the U.S. Department of State that the Trump administration planned to send to the country to review the integrity of the Brazilian electoral system.
The Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicated to Bloomberg that it denied the visas considering that the visit could be interpreted as interference in the electoral process, according to two Brazilian officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The U.S. mission included Under Secretary of State Riley Barnes and Deputy Assistant Secretary Samuel Samson, according to the U.S. newspaper 'Washington Post'. The Department of State confirmed that Barnes and Samson were scheduled to travel to Brasilia, but avoided answering questions about the specific purpose of the trip or whether the Trump administration had doubts about electoral integrity in Brazil.