SÃO PAULO—Trailing in polls with a month to go before Brazil’s election, President
Jair Bolsonaro
came out swinging in the country’s first presidential debate late Sunday, calling leftist rival
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
a corrupt “ex-con.”
The right-wing Mr. Bolsonaro has been fighting to claw back against the popular Mr. da Silva, a former president who polls show winning the race. A victory by Mr. da Silva on Oct. 2 would cement a shift to the political left in South America, where leftist politicians have recently won office in Colombia and Chile.
But Mr. da Silva has a weak spot. The former president was jailed for corruption in 2018 in the vast Car Wash cash-for-contracts scandal at the state oil company
or Petrobras, preventing him from running against Mr. Bolsonaro in the last presidential election. Mr. da Silva has denied wrongdoing and was freed in 2019 after a Supreme Court ruling, but polls show most Brazilians still believe him to be guilty.
“Your government was the most corrupt in Brazilian history,” said Mr. Bolsonaro. “You want to come back to power for what? To keep doing the same thing at Petrobras?”
Mr. da Silva changed the subject during the debate. He instead criticized Mr. Bolsonaro over rising unemployment and inflation, accusing him of hobbling Brazil. “The country that I left behind is one that the people miss, a country of employment, a country where people had the right to live with dignity,” said Mr. da Silva.
A victory by former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Oct. 2 would cement a shift to the political left in South America.
Photo:
Andre Penner/Associated Press
The former union leader, who said his imprisonment was part of a political witch hunt against him, vows to attend to the poor and fight deforestation in the Amazon, which government data show has soared under Mr. Bolsonaro’s watch.
Mr. da Silva was leading Mr….
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