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France 24
France 24
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François PICARD

Back to the Bolsonaros? Brazil presidential run-off goes down to the wire

Cover image: Brazilian senator and presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro of the Liberal Party (PL) and Sao Paulo Governor Tarcisio de Freitas attend a rally ahead of the runoff presidential election, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, October 18, 2026. © Brian Snyder, REUTERS

Brazil's future within the margin of error ahead of Sunday's presidential runoff: most of the latest polls put the far-right's Flavio Bolsonaro ahead of left-wing incumbent Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva... a lead that's narrowed after last weekend's acrimomious debate.

We'll ask about crime, inequality and the other issues that could determine this nail-biter. We'll ask whether the nearly 81-year old Lula's lost his lustre of old, whether Brazilians are ready to overlook the attempted coup conviction of the 45-year old Bolsonaro's father after he was voted out last time around in 2022... and how Brazil's changed in four years. For starters, it's embrace of social media's only snowballed with the planet's third biggest usage of Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok. It's such a factor that Meta, the parent group of Whatsapp, Instagram and Twitter has been branded by critics as the third party in the runoff... with Bolsonaro's supporters flooding the zone with content. Will all the virtual campaigning tip the scales on Sunday?

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