Brazilians are voting Sunday in a pivotal presidential election dominated by incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and his ideological opposite, Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro.
asserted
Brazilians → vote → Silva
Preelection polls suggested both have a chance of winning outright, but if neither gets a majority of the vote, a runoff will be held on Oct. 25.
uncertain
runoff → suggest → Oct.
Nearly 159 million Brazilians are eligible to vote in Latin America’s largest economy.
asserted
Brazilians → vote → economy
Bolsonaro is an ally of U.S. President Donald Trump and the son of ex-leader Jair Bolsonaro, whom Lula defeated four years ago.
asserted
Lula → defeat → whom
Here’s the latest:
asserted
latest → ’ → ?
Brazilians cast ballots in Portugal
Brazilians lined up to vote in Portugal’s capital like those living outside Brazil around the globe.
asserted
Brazilians → cast → globe
Some of those waiting to vote in Lisbon showed their Brazilian pride — one wearing a yellow and green Brazil soccer jersey, another a T-shirt with incumbent President Lula’s face emblazoned on the front.
asserted
another → wait → front
“I will have dual nationality, but I’m still patriotic,” said Michele Sacramento, who’s lived in Portugal for seven years.
asserted
who → have → years
“I love my country and I hope I can return one day and be able to walk in the street like I walk here, without any fear, any worry.”
asserted
I → love → fear
Public security among voters’ top concerns in the election
Many are casting their ballots under the shadow of rising crime.
asserted
Many → cast → crime
They are also high in Rio de Janeiro, Flávio Bolsonaro’s home state, where entrenched criminal factions and urban warfare have plagued communities for decades.
asserted
factions → plague → decades
Voters head to the polls demanding decisive federal action in the near future.
asserted
Voters → head → future
Lula urges voters over 70 to cast ballots
Brazil’s incumbent president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, voted after 9 a.m. in a school in Sao Bernardo do Campo, outside Sao Paulo.
asserted
president → urge → Paulo
The 80-year-old Lula said that he was confident that he could get his first outright victory in seven runs for the presidency.
uncertain
he → say → presidency
He also urged Brazilians above age 70, who aren’t legally required to vote, to show up and cast their ballots.
asserted
who → urge → ballots
Wearing a hat to protect his head after a skin cancer diagnosis, Lula told journalists that he needs “to do double what we have done” if reelected and also said that “Brazil will not go forward by making arms sales easier,” in reference to a long-standing pledge of his main opponent, Flávio Bolsonaro.
asserted
sales → wear → opponent
Voter highlights the issue of crime in Brazil
Rosane Wink, 67, a retired engineer with German origins who voted in the same school as Flávio Bolsonaro, is a lifelong conservative voter who supports the former president’s son and his promise to classify criminal groups as terrorist organizations.
asserted
who → highlight → organizations
“It’s a kind of terrorism that they’re doing with us,” said Wink, who was wearing a T-shirt with Brazil’s national colors.
asserted
who → ’ → colors
Last month, a robber held a gun to her stomach and then bit her hand and removed her wedding ring, she said.
asserted
she → hold → ring
“We’re not going to succeed in putting an end to crime, but we have to find a way to diminish it.”
asserted
we → go → it
Brazil’s patron saint has become a surprise election issue
Brazil’s patron saint is Our Lady of Aparecida.
asserted
saint → become → Aparecida
A comment on Jesus by Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro recently went viral, triggering fears among many Catholics that he might intend to remove the patron saint status of Our Lady of Aparecida — a claim Bolsonaro has denied.
uncertain
Bolsonaro → go → claim
In an Aug. 23 video, Bolsonaro said that he would “declare that Brazil belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ.”
asserted
Brazil → say → Christ
Some Catholics interpreted that as meaning that the presidential candidate would remove Our Lady of Aparecida as Brazil’s patron saint.
asserted
candidate → interpret → saint
Our Lady of Aparecida is a much-beloved figure among Brazilians.
asserted
Lady → belove → Brazilians
The accusation tapped into Catholics’ fears over losing ground to Evangelicals and could weaken the presidential bid of Bolsonaro, who is Evangelical.
uncertain
who → tap → Bolsonaro
Bolsonaro has no authority to name or remove patron saints.
asserted
Bolsonaro → have → saints
That’s entirely up to the Vatican.
asserted
That → ’ → Vatican
Bolsonaro casts his vote
asserted
Bolsonaro → cast → vote
Brazilian presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro has voted in his home state of Rio de Janeiro.
asserted
Bolsonaro → vote → Janeiro
“Brazil needs change, Brazil can’t stand so much suffering,” said Bolsonaro, who arrived at around 8:10 a.m. local time to vote in a school.
asserted
who → need → school
He was dressed in a light yellow shirt featuring a “22” sticker, corresponding to the number that Brazilians must punch in to electronic voting machines if voting for him.
asserted
Brazilians → dress → him
“I am more than prepared to preside this country to give back to Brazilians the right to dream,” he told journalists.
asserted
he → prepare → journalists
Brazilian sovereignty takes center stage
asserted
sovereignty → take → stage
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s government sees a series of recent U.S. measures — including tariffs and the decision to classify Brazil’s biggest drug-trafficking groups as foreign terrorist organizations — as attempts to tip the scale in Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro’s favor, an accusation that the Trump administration has denied.
asserted
administration → see → that
A victory by Bolsonaro would mean Brazil would join Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica and Peru in electing Trump-friendly governments in recent years.
asserted
Brazil → mean → years
Lula has made Brazil’s sovereignty a major campaign issue.
asserted
sovereignty → make → ?
In the days before the election, his team launched a Portuguese version of the Bad Bunny song, “Lo que le paso a Hawaii,” that uses the U.S. colonization of Hawaii as a cautionary tale.
asserted
that → launch → tale
Brazilians use electronic voting machines to vote
Brazilian voters prepare number-heavy lists to remember their candidates’ numbers and at the ballot box, punch in the corresponding digits.
asserted
voters → use → digits
Brazilian authorities adopted electronic voting machines in the 1990s to tackle longstanding fraud.
asserted
authorities → adopt → fraud
…and 12 more, not listed.
The Aporia
