Lula Touts Leftist Record With Mamdani as Polls Show Presidential Election a Toss-Up in Brazil

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Senator Flávio Bolsonaro are in a statistical tie weeks ahead of Brazil’s election that will decide if the nation will continue to be led by the left or if the right can take back power.Mr. da Silva met on Monday with Mayor Zohran Mamdani at New York ahead of the United Nations General Assembly. “We talked about the fight against poverty and the importance of bringing more and more young people into politics,” Mr. da Silva said in an X post.Mr. da Silva said Mr. Mamdani will play an important role in America and the world’s future. “We agreed on the importance of prioritizing vulnerable populations in the formulation of public policies, placing the poorest at the center of the budget,” Mr. da Silva added. He said he invited Mr. Mamdani to visit Brazil with the dates being agreed to at a later time. Whether he will still be president for that visit remains uncertain.A poll released hours before the meeting showed Mr. da Silva, known by his political nickname, Lula, winning a runoff election 46 percent to 45 percent over the son of former president Jair Bolsonaro. The BTG Pactual/Nexus poll has a margin of error of 2 percentage points, meaning the election is a toss-up.Brazilians will head to the polls on October 4, with the top two of the 13 candidates expected to take part in a runoff election later in the month.Mr. da Silva’s polling numbers have dropped, in part, due to a scandal involving the jailed former owner of the bank Banco Master, Daniel Vorcaro, and his links to justices on Brazil’s Supreme Court. The bank collapsed last year after an investigation into a massive fraud scheme.Mr. Bolsonaro has tried to tie Mr. da Silva to the scandal but he has his own link to Mr. Vorcaro. Mr. Bolsonaro reportedly negotiated $24 million in payments from Mr. Vorcaro to fund “Dark Horse,” a biographical film about his father. Mr. Bolsonaro has said he did nothing wrong.Affordability concerns have been another major issue in the race and Mr. da Silva’s disapproval ratings hit 50 percent last week according to a poll by Quaest.Mr. da Silva last week announced a $1.1 billion program to fund a 15 percent increase in payments under Brazil’s welfare program but the poll found that he has not seen any boost in support yet from the move. The first payment will go to families on October 19, just days before the expected run-off vote.Mr. da Silva is running for an unprecedented fourth term of president as the candidate of the left-wing Workers’ Party. Ex-President Jair Bolsonaro, an ally of President Trump, endorsed his eldest son to run as the candidate for the right-wing Liberal Party.Mr. Bolsonaro has tried to position himself as a more moderate version of his father. He has aligned with the Trump administration on plans to supply America with sought after rare earth chemical elements needed for electronics. Mr. Trump levied punitive tariffs on Brazil last year as punishment for the elder Bolsonaro’s prosecution but scaled back tariffs on many goods, including beef and fruits after negotiations.

Lula Touts Leftist Record With Mamdani as Polls Show Presidential Election a Toss-Up in Brazil

Lula Touts Leftist Record With Mamdani as Polls Show Presidential Election a Toss-Up in Brazil

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