Welcome back to Foreign Policy’s Latin America Brief.

The highlights this week: Brazilians prepare to vote in general elections, the United Nations Security Council extends its security mission in Haiti, and Colombian designers strut their stuff at Northern Hemisphere fashion weeks.

Welcome back to Foreign Policy’s Latin America Brief.

The highlights this week: Brazilians prepare to vote in general elections, the United Nations Security Council extends its security mission in Haiti, and Colombian designers strut their stuff at Northern Hemisphere fashion weeks.

Brazil at a Crossroads

On Sunday, Brazilians will vote in general elections. The contest is set to be one of the biggest tests yet of how Latin Americans are feeling about U.S. President Donald Trump’s aggressive policies toward the region.

A dozen candidates are running for president. Polls suggest a tight race between the top two contenders: left-wing President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and right-wing Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro. They champion dramatically different visions for the country’s foreign policy, environmental policy, and treatment of democratic institutions.

Flávio Bolsonaro is the eldest son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, who remains under house arrest for plotting a coup following his 2022 election loss to Lula; the younger Bolsonaro has pledged to pardon his father. Bolsonaro lagged behind Lula in the polls as recently as July, when he struggled to attract a running mate who could diversify his ticket. He settled for a male candidate from his own Liberal Party (PL), and his first rallies were sparsely attended.

But Bolsonaro’s poll numbers have risen in recent weeks, and he and Lula are now neck and neck. His bump followed wall-to-wall media coverage of allegations of corruption by a Supreme Court justice seen as an ally of Lula—and skilled campaigning by PL leaders. If no candidate wins at least 50 percent of the vote on Sunday, the top two finishers will proceed to an Oct. 25 runoff.

PL President Valdemar Costa Neto has proved himself the “best political operator in Brazil” through both digital campaigning and training local candidates across the country, political scientist Jairo Nicolau said last week. He predicted broad wins for the PL at the federal and state levels, which would create pro-Bolsonaro momentum in the presidential race.

Each presidential candidate has been trying to chip away at constituencies that may have supported the opposite side in 2022. A few recent Foreign Policy pieces look at how and why.

Journalist Thayz Guimarães examined the politics of Brazil’s defense sector. Many in Brazil’s military historically voted for Jair Bolsonaro, and some took part in his failed........

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