In the first debate ahead of the vote in Brazil, Lula and Bolsonaro accused each other of being liars, corrupt and guilty.

“I want a free country, where freedom of expression is respected, private property is respected, you can safely go home, go to work, go to school…. I want a drug-free country; Lula will issue drugs; we respect life, not abortion; and respect for religions,” Bolsonaro said in his Affirmed in closing remarks. “That’s the Abyss we want, not Lula,” he concluded.

Lula said: “I am the defender of democracy; I want to rule the country democratically as I have done twice”

“Let’s talk about your friend Daniel Ortega, who is firing priests and closing TV channels,” Bolsonaro questioned Lula.

Accusing his rival of having a “deal” with Marcos Camacho, a drug trafficker named Marcola, the president promised the Workers’ Party (PT) candidate was “surrounded by traffickers” during a rally in a favela in Rio de Janeiro. Janeiro last Wednesday. “You are friends with bandits. In the favela, there were no policemen by his side, only smugglers,” Bolsonaro fumed.

Lula laughed off the allegations, accusing Bolsonaro of associating him with poverty and reproaching him for his “friendship” with militias, as the mafias made up of active and retired policemen who control dozens of favelas in the city are known. Rio de Janeiro.

“Bolsonaro knows I’m not the one looking after organized crime. I am not the one who is in touch with the militants. And he knows who he is. Organized crime related to Mariel’s death,” Lula said.

Lula noted the 2018 killing of Rio de Janeiro councilwoman Mariel Franco, who was known for her stance on combating militant groups, in a crime that had a major international impact and is still unsolved.

Bolsonaro said Petrol It was the “biggest corruption scheme in human history” to which Petrobras was a “creditor”. In his response, Lula said he was responsible for recapitalizing 70,000 million rai from Petrobras and turning the state company into the “second largest energy company in the world,” making Brazil a “self-sufficient” country.

“I’m not saying there is no corruption, it’s not necessary to close down companies to fight corruption, we need to arrest the corrupt,” Lula said.

Patricia Campos Mello, a journalist from Folha de São Paulo, said the elections were marked by fake news. Therefore, he asked the candidates if they would commit to proposing a specific law against public actors who publish untruthful information.

In his response, Lula said the election judge had so far withdrawn more than 36 false election ads from media outlets from the Bolsonaro campaign. “The President tells 6 or 7 lies a day,” he said. “I believe that the campaign should be regulated and the judge should decide. And every time there is a lie, we will file a case,” Lula added.

In his turn, Bolsonaro called his opponent a liar “Lula, if you don’t lie, you wouldn’t be yourself,” the president said. “They already call me a genocidal, a cannibal,” Bolsonaro said, quoting the sidewalk directly.

Lula questioned the fact that Brazil today “only refines 80% of the gasoline it uses, while under his government the refining is 100%.” The PT member said he was against the privatization of Petrobras, a plan he described as “madness”. “Frankly, I don’t think privatization is the solution to anything,” he added.

For his part, Bolsonaro blamed the rise in fuel prices on the pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. However, he was proud that Economy Minister Paulo Guedes was a “pride” for his government.

“Are you committed to respecting the separation of powers?” is the first question of both candidates.

Lula was the first to respond by saying that he would not try to change the Supreme Court. “I believe the Supreme Court should be chosen based on merit, not friendship.”

Bolsonaro said he was determined not to change the composition of the court, but pointed out that the PT has “seven appointed ministers” while he has two.

Until now, epidemic management has monopolized the debate. Lula took the lead in blaming the president and was more aggressive than the president, who limited himself in responding.

After clashing over the issue of the Covid-19 pandemic, Lula called Bolsonaro the “king of fake news”, while the current president has repeatedly told him the leftist is a “liar”.

“Don’t keep lying. “It’s worse for the age,” Bolsonaro said. “You are the liar, the king of fake news, stupidity, lying to Brazilian society,” Lula responded.

The president defended himself against Lula’s accusations about his government’s management and took aim at state governments he accused of corruption in the procurement of vaccines.

Opening the face-to-face debate, 15 minutes each, Lula praised the programs developed by their governments between 2003 and 2010. He talked about projects like ProUni and Fies, and talked about the construction of federal universities. How many educational institutions has Bolsonaro created in the last four years?

Bolsonaro responded that now is not the time to create universities because of the COVID-19 pandemic. “That’s no time,” said the President.

The former president took the opportunity to remind his rival that he called the coronavirus “cribesinha” and accused Brazil of negligence in handling the pandemic.

Lula also questioned him about the delay in procuring vaccines. “He carries the suffering of Brazilians on his shoulders,” he charged.

In his response, Bolsonaro said Brazil began vaccinating in 2021 and that it was one of the “highest and fastest vaccinating countries in the world.” “The unequivocal truth is that their negligence caused the deaths of 680,000 people, more than half of whom could have been spared,” Lula insisted.

First batch: Lula and Bolsonaro will ask each other questions, with the right to answers, answers and counter-answers. Each candidate will be given 15 minutes to present their explanations and questions. The PT will initiate the discussion.

Second batch: Candidates will answer questions from journalists. They have only 1 minute and 30 seconds to create each answer.

Third block: Candidates will again ask each other questions, but they will also have to answer the presenters’ questions. Ultimately, Bolsonaro and Lula will make their final deliberations on the order.

President Jair Bolsonaro and former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva face each other in a head-to-head debate this Sunday night. They will try to take advantage of it 14 days before the voting in the Brazilian presidential election.

The far-right president and the left-wing leader confirmed their presence a few days ago for the first televised clash, which is expected to start at 8:00pm local time (23:00 GMT).

Amid a campaign of strong attacks from candidates and their entourages, including links to cannibalism, pedophilia or organized crime, it is a key event to win over undecided voters, according to analysts.

In the first round on October 2, Lula won with 48.4% of the vote to 43.2% for Bolsonaro, who had a better-than-expected result in opinion polls.

Heading into the referendum, the Workers’ Party (PT) leader is the favorite, with 49% of voting intentions, five percentage points behind Bolsonaro, who has 44% support, according to a survey published by the Datafolha Institute. Last Friday.

93% of those consulted said they had already decided their vote, 6% said they would cast a blank or invalid vote, and 2% said they were undecided.