Lula brands Bolsonaro 'tiny little dictator' in Brazil TV debate - The Guardian

The leftist frontrunner to go Brazil’s adjacent president branded the far-right incumbent, Jair Bolsonaro, “a tiny small dictator” and “the king of fake quality and stupidity” during a tv statement that volition assistance specify the governmental aboriginal of 1 of the world’s biggest democracies.

Brazil’s erstwhile president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who nearly bushed Bolsonaro successful the statesmanlike election’s archetypal circular successful September, admonished his hostile implicit his handling of Covid and soaring Amazon deforestation during the feisty two-hour encounter.

“The information is that your negligence ensured that 680,000 radical died – much than fractional of whom could person been saved,” Lula told Bolsonaro, whose sabotage of coronavirus containment measures and vaccination efforts caused planetary outrage.

“Never earlier successful past was determination a authorities that fooled astir with a pandemic oregon with decease arsenic you did,” Lula, 76, said of Bolsonaro, who belittled Covid arsenic “a small flu” and claims helium has not been vaccinated.

Lula, whom polls springiness a 5 oregon six-point pb implicit Bolsonaro up of the 30 October run-off, besides attacked his rival’s battle connected the environment. “You showed nary respect for the Amazon – nary astatine all,” Lula said, vowing to make a ministry for autochthonal peoples if elected.

“We are going to triumph these elections truthful we tin instrumentality attraction of the Amazon and outlaw the penetration of Indigenous lands and amerciable mining.”

Bolsonaro counterattacked successful what was the archetypal face-to-face statement betwixt the 2 politicians during this year’s fractious conflict for power.

The far-right radical, who was elected successful 2018 aft Lula was jailed connected corruption charges that were aboriginal quashed, berated his adversary for the corruption scandals that blighted the 14 years his Worker’s enactment (PT) spent successful power, from 2003 to 2016. “You’re a nationalist embarrassment,” Bolsonaro declared during the statement successful Brazil’s largest city, São Paulo.

Bolsonaro accused Lula of cosying up to leftist autocrats including the leaders of Nicaragua and Venezuela, Daniel Ortega and Nicolás Maduro. But Lula rejected those accusations, claiming it was Bolsonaro – a erstwhile worker notorious for celebrating dictators specified arsenic Chile’s General Augusto Pinochet – who posed a menace to Brazil’s young democracy.

“My hostile is fundamentally the astir shameless liar that exists,” Lula said. “I’m the 1 who defends ideology and state – overmuch much than this tiny small dictator … I privation to govern this state democratically arsenic I person doubly before,” said the erstwhile national leader, who governed from 2003 to 2010.

Progressive Brazilians had hoped Lula would expanse to an emphatic victory implicit Bolsonaro successful the election’s archetypal circular – but the Donald Trump-admiring populist fared amended than astir polls had predicted, securing 43% of votes to Lula’s 48%. Polls had forecast Bolsonaro would person nary much than 37%.

Lula is inactive the favourite to triumph but Bolsonaro’s better-than-expected show means the predetermination is apt to stay a nailbiter until the results are announced.

In caller days some candidates person embarked connected a run blitz successful the 3 south-eastern states that should determine the outcome, Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. Together they are location to astir 64 cardinal of Brazil’s 156 cardinal voters.

Last week Lula visited 1 of Rio’s largest favelas, the Complexo bash Alemão, successful a bid to triumph implicit working-class voters.

Bolsonaro risked alienating hundreds of thousands of favela residents during Sunday’s statement by suggesting that Lula had visited the assemblage to socialise with criminals. “There weren’t immoderate constabulary astir you – conscionable cause traffickers,” Bolsonaro said, sparking outrage from favela activists.

“Bolsonaro doesn’t similar the poor. Bolsonaro doesn’t similar achromatic people. Bolsonaro doesn’t similar those from the favela,” tweeted Rene Silva, the Complexo bash Alemão media activistic who arranged Lula’s sojourn to the favela.