Two days before the second round of the presidential election in Brazil, Lula and Jair Bolsonaro clashed in a final televised debate this Friday evening, in the form of a clash of the titans, where the two candidates went blow for blow .
With our correspondent in São Paulo, Martin Bernard
The two candidates called each other liars at least twenty times during the first part of the debate broadcast on TV Globo, the most watched channel in the country. The animosity lasted for the two and a half hours of exchanges.
Lula, blue suit, red tie, sometimes wore glasses, which gave him a professorial air, especially when he talked about foreign policy.
“You isolated Brazil. Brazil today is more isolated than Cuba. Under your government, what has Brazil become? Brazil has become a pariah”
Jair Bolsonaro counterattacked on corruption and accused Lula of links with drug traffickers. Above all, he highlighted his economic balance sheet: “ We are ready to take off to make this Brazil a great nation in terms of economy. We have a Parliament which is perfectly in tune with us. Rather centre-right. Everything is ready for take off. Our growth will be higher than that of China “.
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astonishing slip
After adopting an aggressive and condescending tone, the re-election candidate nevertheless concluded the debate with an astonishing slip. ” Thank you very much, my God. And if that is your will, I will be ready to carry out a new mandate of federal deputy », before resuming: of President of the Republic “.
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Jair Bolsonaro was a deputy for 28 years, before winning the presidential election in 2018. It is not sure that his performance in the last debate will allow him to win a new presidential term. Lula, 77 years oldslightly increased (from four to six points) its lead in the latest poll by the benchmark institute Datafolha, published Thursday, with 53% of the voting intentions expressed, against 47% for the far-right president.