MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Bolsonaro too close for Lula's comfort

The incumbent president was reported to have won the past TV debate

According to the most recent polls, incumbent President Jair Bolsonaro keeps narrowing the gap with the former head of state and challenger Luiz Inácio Lula Da Silva ahead of the Oct. 30 runoffs.

Lula warned the outcome might be tight and urged all of his supporters to show up at the polling stations to cast their votes. Surveys before the Oct. 2 first round said Lula was some 15 percentage points ahead of Bolsonaro, but the PT candidate won by only some 5 percentage points. With the latest surveys saying Lula was 4 % ahead for next Sunday and taking into account how the leftwing candidate's performance was overmeasured while Bolsonaro's was undermeasured, Lula has grounds not to be overenthusiastic. With such a margin of error, anything might happen.

At a press conference in Rio de Janeiro, the Workers' Party (PT) leader said he was “sure” he would win, although he admitted that Bolsonaro “has gained some points very slowly” in the latest polls.

A Datafolha poll published Wednesday gave Lula 49% of the support and Bolsonaro 45%, the smallest difference so far in the campaign and a technical tie within the margin of error.

“The election is very even, very disputed, there are many people defined and the number of people to convince is increasingly lower,” said Lula, who is seeking a third term after ruling between 2003 and 2010.

Lula, who won the first round with 48.4% of the votes against Bolsonaro's 43.2%, said it was unlikely that Bolsonaro could surmount such a deficit in votes despite public money handouts in the form of social subsidies and once again denounced the President's “powerful machine of telling lies.”

“The guy is a very professional liar, he lies with the utmost brazenness on television,” Lula said while admitting he had heard “rumors” about the arrival of a team linked to Steve Bannon, former senior advisor to former U.S. President Donald Trump (2017-2021), to help his opponent in the last week of the campaign.

Meanwhile, in Buenos Aires, President Alberto Fernández and Vice-President Cristina Kirchner were reported by TN to have received a secret document regarding Bolsonaro winning the Brazilian elections, which would mean a hard blow for the Argentine ruling Frente de Todos coalition. According to this diplomatic document, the underdog Bolsonaro might end up a surprise winner, TN said. Deflation for three months in a row under Bolsonaro in a world going the opposite way might prove vital.

TN also mentions a poll after the last presidential debate giving Bolsonaro a 42%/41% win over Lula.