
Brazil’s Supreme Court will weigh in September an appeal by jailed former president Lula da Silva to be set free so he can join the presidential campaign already under way, a court spokesperson said on Monday.

The Brazilian currency Real fell to a 31-month low versus the U.S. dollar on Thursday on jitters ahead of the country’s October election. Jitters across emerging markets caused by a stronger U.S. dollar and exacerbated by the unfolding currency crisis in Turkey already took a toll on the Brazilian unit before this week.

The popularity of imprisoned former Brazilian president Lula da Silva has grown strongly despite his corruption conviction, an election poll on Wednesday showed, a result that rattled markets and raised the possibility that Lula’s running mate could ultimately become the next occupant of the country’s presidential palace.

Jailed former president Lula da Silva has increased his support by five percentage points and would win Brazil's October presidential election if he was allowed to run, a poll by CNT/MDA showed on Monday. The survey, which was last taken in May, found that almost half of the leftist leader's supporters would transfer their votes to his running mate Fernando Haddad if Lula is disqualified from Brazil's most uncertain race in decades.

The United Nations Human Rights Committee, a panel of independent experts, on Friday said it had requested that the Brazilian government allow imprisoned former president Lula da Silva to exercise his political rights as a presidential candidate.

By Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (*) Curitiba.- Sixteen years ago, Brazil was in crisis; its future uncertain. Our dreams of developing into one of the world’s most prosperous and democratic countries seemed imperiled.

Brazil's Workers' Party announced on Monday that former Sao Paulo Mayor Fernando Haddad will become its presidential candidate if, as expected, jailed ex-president Lula da Silva is barred from running in the October election.

Brazil's ex president and currently jailed for corruption, Lula da Silva is expected to secure his Workers Party's nomination this Saturday and continue to overshadow more likely candidates in the country's most unpredictable presidential election for decades.

Five allied political parties endorsed the presidential nominee of the bigger business friendly Brazilian Social Democracy Party on Thursday, giving a boost to the man seen as the establishment candidate in Brazil's fractured political landscape.

Brazil's far-right presidential hopeful, Jair Bolsonaro, officially kicked off his campaign on Sunday, blasting the political center but softening his incendiary stance on gays and blacks three months before wide-open October elections.