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The stabbing of an important candidate for the Brazilian presidency has the potential to reorganize the electoral contest after dramatically revealing the deep polarization of the largest nation in Latin America.
Right-wing MP Jair Bolsonaro, a former captain of the army who has pledged to crack down on crime, has long argued that Brazil is in chaos and that it needs to "get away from it all." a firm hand to be stabilized.
A man with a knife stabbed the candidate in the abdomen during a campaign on Thursday, Brazilians rushed on social media to ask if the attack supported Bolsonaro's claims that the country was out of attack .
Dr. Luiz Henrique Borsato, who operated on the emergency, said the recovery of Bolsonaro was "satisfactory" until now.
He said the candidate would remain hospitalized for at least a week after a two-hour operation to stop severe internal bleeding.
A suspect was arrested a few seconds after being stabbed
In many videos posted on social networks at the time of the attack, Bolsonaro was visible on the shoulders of a supporter, staring at the crowd and raising his left hand.
We see him flinch and then disappear. Other videos show supporters taking him into a car and hitting a man who was apparently the attacker.
Bolsonaro's son confirmed the attack against Twitter, saying the injuries were worse than expected.
He stated that the stab wounds had reached part of the liver, lungs and intestines of Bolsonaro and that he had arrived at the hospital "almost dead".
Bolsonaro was operated on and he was later confirmed that he was stable.
After being stabbed, a suspect, identified by authorities such as Adelio Bispo de Oliveira, 40, was arrested in a few seconds.
The police did not give any reason, but one official said that the man appeared to be unstable mentally.
"Our on-site agents said that the attacker had stated that he was" on a mission to God, "said Luis Boudens, president of the National Federation of Federal Police, at the same time. Associated Press agency. "They have the impression that they are not dealing with a mentally stable person."
Analysts say the stab could reshape the election
After more than four years of revelations about widespread corruption in the Brazilian political class, there is strong anger in the country and analysts have predicted it would be a change. But no real outsider has emerged.
Instead, Bolsonaro, despite being a member of Congress since 1991, has relied heavily on anger and presented himself as a maverick who will clean up a corrupt system.
He also promises to cope with an upsurge in crime, in part by giving the police a freer hand to shoot and kill in service.
Public anger is partly responsible for the fact that this year's campaign is the most unpredictable for years in Brazil, and the attack could lead to another seismic shift.
The man who runs the polls, former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, has been barred from running for office because he has been found guilty of corruption and is in prison.
This places Bolsonaro in the leading position, but it is unclear how this attack could affect the campaign for the presidential election on 7 October.
In the hours following the attack on Juiz de Fora, some 200 kilometers north of Rio de Janeiro, supporters of Bolsonaro predicted it would take him to the presidency.
"They made Bolsonaro a martyr," said Jonatan Valente, a student who attended a small vigil in Bolsonaro, Sao Paulo. "I think the left is shot in the foot because with this attack, they will eventually elect Bolsonaro."
But it is unclear when he will be able to go out on the field and if his injuries will hinder his ability to campaign.
Brazil is politically divided
There were signs of deep fracture in Brazil at the wake, when Bolsonaro supporters briefly exchanged insults with some of the critics who showed up.
Bolsonaro has faced negative feedback for his statements in the past about his nationalist politics and his controversial views against homosexuality, refugees and minorities.
Meanwhile, on Twitter, many have decried the aggression and asked for prayers for Bolsonaro, but others have suggested that the candidate could have engaged in the attack or even l? have organized.
This is not the first time in recent months that violence has affected politicians. In March, while Da Silva was on a campaign tour in southern Brazil before his imprisonment, shots were fired at buses in his caravan. Nobody was hurt.
That same month, Marielle Franco, a black adviser in Rio de Janeiro, was shot dead in March with her driver after attending an event.
While Bolsonaro has a high popularity, he is a deeply divisive character. He has been fined and even charged for making derogatory statements about women, blacks and gays.
He speaks nostalgically of the military dictatorship of 1964-1985 and promised to fill his government with current and former military leaders. His candidate for the vice-presidency is a retired general.
"It is likely that Bolsonaro will use the attack to argue that his opponents are desperate, that they had no other way to stop him," said Mauricio Santoro, a science professor. policies at the State University of Rio de Janeiro.
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Associated Press reporters Peter Prengaman and Marcelo Silva de Sousa in Rio de Janeiro and Victor Caivano in Sao Paulo contributed to this report.
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