Trump, crime and corruption loom over Brazil's presidential vote

Millions of Brazilians will vote on Sunday in a presidential election under the shadow of corruption scandals, deep political polarization and rising voter fatigue. Two familiar camps dominate the race again, with leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva leading one side and right-wing Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, son of imprisoned former President Jair Bolsonaro, leading the other. Political analyst Brian Winter, of Americas Quarterly and the Americas Society/Council of the Americas, describes the contest as competing visions for Brazil and for Latin America. Voting is compulsory for most adults, and turnout is typically among the highest in the Americas. Lula, 80, seeks a fourth and likely last term after a return to power in 2023 following convictions later annulled by Brazil’s Supreme Court in 2021. Jair Bolsonaro is barred from running and serves a 27-year sentence for attempting to overturn the 2022 election. If no candidate wins more than half on Sunday, the top two advance to an Oct. 25 runoff, with Brazil’s direction potentially tilting between a US-aligned conservative bloc and Lula’s multipolar foreign policy.