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At this time of year, the gaúchos are in force.
Dressed in trousers and scarves and wearing wide-brimmed felt hats, residents of Rio Grande do Sul have just celebrated Semana Farroupilha (Ragamuffin Week).
This is an annual festival that marks a uprising of the 19th century when the region attempted to separate from the rest of Brazil. Only this is not the case – the state of Rio Grande do Sul remains Brazilian.
The festival celebrates a uprising of the 19th century
But it's always an excuse for a party. People here are proud of their heritage. In some respects, they have more in common with their Uruguayan and Argentinean neighbors, who are fond of gaucho, than with other parts of Brazil.
And that makes politics interesting in the conservative south.
Rodeos and ragamuffins
The rodeo is one of the big events of the week Ragamuffin. Men and women, all wearing their traditional wide-brimmed felt hats, ride their horses with a lasso in their hands and prove their cowboy skills to the enthusiastic public.
A gaúcho shows his talents with the lasso
A commentator speaks at a vertiginous speed. Every few minutes, a bull crosses the field, followed closely by a runner who throws the rope.
Hewyllyn Carrao, a 19-year-old student, sits on the rodeo tripod, wearing her gaúcho felt hat.
Hewyllyn Carrao has not yet decided who to vote for
The event is a bit of light relief. Less than two weeks before the first round of the presidential election, most of the discussions are on the agenda.
"All you can do is laugh really!" she says candidates nominated this year. "I do not know who to vote for, no one does anything for people."
Divisions with friends
Brazil is definitely divided. The far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro is expected to collect the largest number of votes in the first round on October 7, followed by left wing Fernando Haddad, who replaced former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva as a candidate of the Workers Party.
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On the other side of the rodeo field, a group of women organize a colonial tea. A rib of beef is on the barbecue.
Claudia Matiello and Raquel Oliveira do not see things in front
Claudia Matiello and Raquel Oliveira are friends, but in politics, they do not see each other.
"I vote for Bolsonaro because I believe in change and that it will revolutionize Brazil," said Claudia.
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Raquel shakes her head in despair. She votes for Haddad because she thinks that he is the only person able to put Brazil back on track economically.
I ask her what she thinks of Claudia by voting for Bolsonaro. "She'll see the consequences soon," she laughs.
Good memories of the army
But on the other side of the city, in the oldest shooting club in Brazil, Bolsonaro would win hands down. "The words 'order and progress' are written on the Brazilian flag," says owner Dempsey Magaldi.
Dempsey Magaldi, the owner of a shooting club, says the government can not protect people
"But there is total disorder and chaos in this country – we have reached a limit – it's practically a civil war." According to him, 80% of new club members start learning to shoot for security reasons. People want to be able to defend themselves because they say the government is unable to protect them.
The teammate and gun owner, Henrique Nogueira, is of the same opinion. In rural Rio Grande do Sul, he declares that he and his friends all want to vote for Jair Bolsonaro because he is the candidate who supports more flexible firearms laws in response to rising violence.
Henrique Nogueira believes the laws were respected under the military regime
Henrique remembers the time when Brazil was under military rule from 1964 to 1985.
It was a period in which hundreds of people were killed or disappeared, but Henrique said it was "years of progress, during which the laws were respected." and where there was more discipline. " He thinks that when democracy has been restored and the left has taken power "there has been a reversal of values".
"The police were perceived as criminals, and the criminals the good guys, now you see the results," he said, referring to the record of 63,880 homicides committed in Brazil last year.
"The only option to remedy this is Bolsonaro."
Ignore controversies
Nicknamed "the legend" by his fans, Jair Bolsonaro is a cult. They seem to forget – or ignore – the controversial comments he made. He told a congressman that she was too ugly to be raped. He also said that he preferred to have a dead son rather than a homosexual son.
Author's right of the image
AFP
Jair Bolsonaro is clearly ahead of the polls
But partisan Felipe Moreira Gil has no say in Jair Bolsonaro – or the army. He is wearing a T-shirt with a photo of Carlos Alberto Brilhante Ustra on the front. The late army colonel was accused of ordering the unlawful arrest and torture of 500 leftist militants under military rule.
"He is the greatest hero of the Brazilian people," he says. "He protected them from leftist terrorists."
Jair Bolsonaro also spoke fondly of military rule in the past.
Felipe Moreira Gil says that Carlos Alberto Brilhante Ustra is his hero
"It would not be a bad idea," says Felipe about his return to a military-led government. "But this is not a possibility at the moment.Bolsonaro will become president, so there is no reason to organize a counter-revolution."
Radical change
Regina Brunet, 21, is worried. She is campaigning for Fernando Haddad in downtown Porto Alegre.
"If people do not work, the streets become less safe and Bolsonaro appeals to that feeling," she says. "It's for a radical change, but it's not a change that would help people, it will only make things worse."
Katia Rose Maciel Broca, a supporter of Bolsonaro, does not agree.
Katia Rose Maciel Broca thinks Jair Bolsonaro will bring change to Brazil
"Trump is changing the United States, is not it?" she says. "People are reluctant to change because they're out of their comfort zone, Trump has also been considered controversial, he's doing a great job, Bolsonaro will do the same."
