— Lies, Lula! Do I have to perform an exorcism on you to stop lying?
The atmosphere was fierce during Friday’s final debate in Brazil, where incumbent President Jair Bolsonaro clashed in a final debate with ex-president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
The rhetoric was characterized more by the other’s failures than by future policy proposals.
Imprisoned and released
Lula, who was president from 2003 to 2010 of the social democratic party PT, long had a clear lead in public opinion. But in the first round of presidential elections, he was only five percentage points ahead of Bolsonaro. Since then, the margin has decreased further.
During his time as president, Lula was embroiled in a wide-ranging political scandal that ended with him being sentenced to prison on corruption charges in 2017 – a sentence that was later overturned after the judge in the case was found to be biased.
“Brazil knows who the real liar is,” Lula said in connection with a debate on minimum wages and the corruption charges leveled against him.
— Lies, Lula! Do I have to perform an exorcism on you to stop lying? Bolsonaro replied.
“You isolated Brazil”
During his time as president, the 67-year-old ex-military has made a long series of criticized statements, where he spoke positively about the military juntas that previously ruled Brazil. His foreign policy has also met with strong criticism.
— You isolated Brazil. Today, Brazil is more isolated than Cuba. You don’t have relationships with anyone. No one wants to receive you, and no one will come here, said Lula.
Bolsonaro denied the allegations:
— We have a lot going on. The Arab world welcomes me with open arms, and I spoke with US President Joe Biden recently. I talk to everyone. Stop lying, Lula.
Another hot topic of debate was Bolsonaro’s handling of the covid-19 pandemic, which has caused nearly 700,000 deaths in the country. Many of them could have been saved, according to ex-president Lula.
“One day you will have to answer for the 300,000 people who died because immunization was postponed,” he said.
President Bolsonaro replied that Lula should be grateful that he was able to produce the vaccine for covid-19.
According to the Spanish news agency EFE, one of the most tense moments of the debate was when Bolsonaro asked Lula to come over to his podium as he answered a question.
— I don’t want to be anywhere near you, replied the ex-president.