BRAZIL
Brazil heads for divisive and unpredictable election
October 7, 2018 - Brazil’s presidential campaign is growing increasingly polarized ahead of the first round on October 7, with voters rejecting centrist candidates and gravitating to opposite ends of the political spectrum.
On the far right is frontrunner Jair Bolsonaro, a retired army captain, who has emerged from a Sepember 6 assassination attempt more radical than ever, according to a Reuters report.
On the other side, the leftist Workers’ Party (PT) has called the election a fraud because its jailed founder and Brazil’s most popular politician, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, has not been allowed to run due to a corruption conviction. The party has made “Free Lula” its rallying cry.