In a televised presidential debate in Sao Paulo on October 18, Flavio Bolsonaro brought a number from Brazil’s prisons into an argument over crime. “Seventy-three percent”. The 45-year-old senator claimed that was the share of prisoners who had voted for his opponent, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, 80. The figure came from polling stations inside detention facilities, where staff and eligible detainees awaiting trial could cast ballots. Convicted prisoners serving final sentences could not vote. Lula paused. “I want 100 percent,” he replied. “Even your father.”

Jair Bolsonaro, the absent father, had spent 28 years in Congress, where he repeatedly praised the 1964 military coup that ushered in more than two decades of dictatorship. He went on to become president, lost re-election to Lula in 2022 and was later convicted of plotting to overturn the result. He is serving a 27-year sentence under house arrest. A week after Lula’s inauguration, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters invaded and vandalised the presidential palace, Congress and Supreme Court in Brasilia, claiming without evidence that the election had been stolen.

Back in the studio, Flavio was promising to “redemocratise” Brazil. He demanded respect for the 56 million Brazilians who had voted for him and said he would send Lula into retirement.

On October 4, Brazil held the first round of its presidential election, alongside elections for the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. Flavio received 56.1 million votes, or 47.03 percent of valid ballots, against Lula’s 53.9 million and 45.16 percent. Since then, Bolsonaro’s lead in the polls has narrowed, with several surveys placing the candidates within the margin of error. The latest readings suggest Lula is gaining ground, although just days before the October 25 run-off, it remains uncertain whether the president can overcome Flavio’s first-round lead.

The October 18 debate had begun with a discussion of armed groups spreading through Brazilian neighbourhoods. Nearly 69 million Brazilians say they perceive the presence of criminal gangs or militias in their neighbourhoods, even as the country’s murder rate falls. Flavio called for treating those organisations as narcoterrorists and for Brazil to join United States President Donald Trump’s Shield of........

© Al Jazeera