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A prison cell and a hospital bed became the most unlikely and most important barracks in Brazil's surreal and unpredictable presidential race.
Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, former imprisoned left-wing leader, and Jair Bolsonaro, a hospitalized right-winger, stabbed by a leftist activist on Thursday, became the two main actors in the election campaign that proved as absurd as it was exciting .
They may have the most supporters, but one does not expect one of them to be the successor of the outgoing president, Michel Temer, who even refused to stand for election despite record levels of unpopularity.
Lula was banned from running in the first round on October 7 because of his corruption conviction, while Bolsonaro, the favorite, should be defeated in the second round, regardless of who he faces. The leader of the People's Party of Workers, Lula, had been leading the polls with twice as much support as her maid of honor, Bolsonaro.
But since he was stripped of ballots about Brazil's law and his punishment for accepting a beachfront apartment, Bolsonaro has managed 22%, 10 points ahead of environmentalist Marina Silva and the candidate center left Ciro Gomes.
Despite their difficulties, both enjoy growing popularity, especially because many consider them victims, which generates sympathy, empathy and sometimes more votes.
Lula claims to be the target of political persecution aimed at preventing him from running for and winning a third term as a result of his consecutive successes from 2003 to 2010.
Victims of different things
For David Fleischer, professor emeritus at the University of Political Science of Brasilia, they are "victims of very different things".
"Lula can consider himself a victim of the courts, but within the framework of the law," he said. "Bolsonaro was the victim of an attack. They are victims, yes, but in the case of Lula, it depends on your perception. "
Another difference is how they can exploit their victim status.
"Bolsonaro can record videos and interviews at the hospital, which Lula is not allowed to do," Fleischer said.
While Bolsonaro, 63, could have lost his life – he underwent surgery for multiple injuries in the mid-section – the ensuing media exposure is more than offset by his greater campaign difficulty.
In Brazil, the presidential candidates benefit from a television exposure in direct relation with the presence of the deputies of their party.
The Social Liberal Party (PSL) of Bolsonaro has only nine MPs, or eight seconds of television advertising, against more than five minutes for the right-wing candidate of the Brazilian Social Democrat Party (PSDB), Geraldo Alckmin.
Heart and mind
Former Bolsonaro Army captain wasted no time in exploiting this exhibition, already recording a video message on his hospital bed and complaining that he would not be able to join the military parade. Friday celebrating Brazil's Independence Day. "We will be there in the heart and the mind, as if we are still holding Brazil above everyone else and God above all," he said.
Lula, 72, still has no hope of running for office and his workers' party has not yet appointed a replacement, although he has until September 12 to do so.
The former charismatic union leader has launched a series of appeals against his conviction and, recently, against his decision in the electoral court of his cell in Curitiba, in the south of the country.
Posted in the Daily Times of 9 Septembere 2018.
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