Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and right-wing Senator Flávio Bolsonaro have concluded their election campaigns ahead of Sunday’s closely contested presidential election.
Lula, 80, ended his campaign on Saturday with a large rally and march in São Paulo, where he expressed confidence that he would secure victory in the first round.
“We are going to win the election in the first round,” Lula told supporters, describing the contest as a choice between “democracy and barbarism” and promising to defeat the far right.
He also warned against what he described as foreign interference, accusing Washington of attempting to influence Brazil’s election.
Meanwhile, Flávio Bolsonaro, 45, held his final campaign events in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. The senator, who is the son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, said he was confident that his campaign was positioned to win in the first round.
The younger Bolsonaro has closely followed the political style of his father and was seen holding a portrait of the former president during a rally.
Jair Bolsonaro, 71, is currently serving a 27-year prison sentence after being convicted of attempting to overturn his defeat to Lula in the 2022 presidential election.
US President Donald Trump has not formally endorsed Flávio Bolsonaro but has said he is closely monitoring the Brazilian election. The issue has become a major point of debate, with Lula's supporters accusing Washington of interference.
Recent opinion polls show Lula maintaining an advantage, but his lead has narrowed significantly. Neither candidate is expected to secure the majority needed to win outright in the first round, raising the possibility of a runoff on October 25.
The election is expected to be much closer than Lula’s 2022 victory over Jair Bolsonaro, when he won by less than two percentage points.
Flávio Bolsonaro is also facing scrutiny over an investigation involving funding for Dark Horse, a film about his father that was reportedly financed by a jailed banker linked to one of Brazil’s major financial scandals.
If elected, Flávio Bolsonaro has promised to seek his father's release from prison. He has also repeated claims questioning the reliability of Brazil’s electronic voting system, raising concerns among analysts that such arguments could be used to challenge the election result if he loses.
About 160 million registered voters will also elect members of Congress, governors and senators across Brazil.
The election comes amid growing support for right-wing political movements in several Latin American countries.
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