Brazilian presidential candidates, center-left leader Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and current head of state, far-right Jair Bolsonaro, have exchanged harsh allegations of corruption, criticism of pandemic management and alleged links with crime organizations on Sundays and drug trafficking during the premiere discussion face to face before the ballot on October 30th.
Lula accused Bolsonaro of being “a little dictator”, who accused him of being one “A national embarrassment”Who only tries to return “at the crime scene”.
The first cross between the two began with the coronavirus pandemic management and vaccination campaign, in 2020.
The former president accused Bolsonaro of “playing” with the lives of Brazilians and accused him of the deaths of over 600,000 people affected by covid-19, recalling that the current president called it a “small flu” that would have been only taken the life of “some other old man”.
Lula denounced Bolsonaro’s resistance to buying vaccines and promoting unproven drugs such as hydroxychloroquine. “His neglect caused the death of 600,000 people when more than half could have been saved, “he said.
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For his part, the current head of state defended his management and stressed that less than a month after the first vaccine applied in the world, Brazil started providing it to anyone who wanted it.
“We have purchased 500 million doses of vaccines. Brazil has set the example in the world in terms of vaccination, “said Bolsonaro.” If it had been someone from your government, someone from the Northeast consortium, you would have stolen everything and many people whose deaths could have been prevented would have died, ”he added, trying to focus attention on the issue of corruption.
Petrobras: “The biggest corruption in the world”
Bolsonaro then accused Lula of carrying out “the biggest corruption plan in the world” in the state-owned company Petrobras, while the center-left candidate recalled that his country does not want him to rule it. someone who bought “51 properties for cash”, and whose origin is unclear.
The far-right candidate, who backtracks in the polls, argued that during the two terms of the leader of the Workers’ Party (PT) the country was “commanded by thieves“.
“your past is shameful. You did nothing for Brazil, you just put public money in your pockets and those of your friends ”, she assured.
For his part, Lula, who was jailed in 2018 on corruption charges that would later be quashed by the Superior Court, defended Petrobras’ capitalization process and claimed that this transformed it into the second largest energy company in the world. which allowed Brazil to “be self-sufficient” in oil.
“If there was corruption, those who stole paid“, He clarified, underlining that the transparency of his government made it possible to carry out the investigations that ended with the capture of those who participated in the irregularities.
“There were no secrets in our government. Everything was a transparency portal, ”Lula said. “In his case, everything is a matter of secrecy,” he stressed.
Furthermore, he criticized the company closures that resulted from all the trials that took place due to the corruption of Petrobras because “it ended millions of jobs” and stressed that “for fight corruption it was not necessary to close the companies “.
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Organized crime and drug trafficking
The presidential candidates also exchanged accusations about relations with drug traffickers and militiamen, as the mafias made up of active and retired policemen are known. who control dozens of favelas.
On the one hand, Bolsonaro accused the former president of “making a pact” with drug trafficker Marcos Camacho. Meanwhile, Lula assumed that she entered the Rio de Janeiro favelas without a safety vest.
“You have friendship with bandits. In the favela there was no policeman beside him, there were only traffickers, “said Bolsonaro, referring to a demonstration held in Rio de Janeiro last Wednesday.
For his part, the leader of the Workers’ Party responded by stating that the head of state is linked to the crime, poverty and organized crime of the far-right parapoli that they killed in 2018 the councilor of Rio de Janeiro, Marielle Franco, known for her role in the fight against the militias, a crime which has had an international impact and which remains unsolved.
Two weeks after the ballot, the last electoral ballot disclosed Friday from the Datafolha firm piazza Lula with 49% of voting intentions against Bolsonaro’s 44%. 93% of those consulted said they had defined their vote, 5% would vote white or null and 1% are undecided.
