MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Bolsonaro and Lula exchange heavy verbal flak during presidential debate

Lula admitted there was corruption during his administration but claimed everything was discovered thanks to the transparency in his 2003-2010 government

Brazil's incumbent President Jair Bolsonaro and former head of state Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva exchanged bitter arguments, low blows, lies, insults, and foul language during Sunday's TV debate ahead of the Oct. 30 runoffs.

There were also uncomfortable silences and some ironic laughter between the two rivals.

Lula's main argument against Bolsonaro was the latter's management of the COVID-19 pandemic, the economic crisis affecting the country's poorest, and the destruction of the Amazon rainforest. On the other side, Bolsonaro underlined corruption under Lula.

”Petrobras was the biggest corruption scandal of humanity. They looted 90 billion reais (about US$ 18 billion). You stuck the money up your ass and distributed it to friends,” Bolsonaro claimed. Lula acknowledged that there was corruption in the state-owned oil company, but assured that everything was discovered due to the transparency of his government (2003-2010).

Bolsonaro also recalled Lula's ties with Latin American leaders Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua, Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela, Gustavo Petro of Colombia or Alberto Fernández of Argentina, whom he linked to Communism, and criticized Ortega for the arrest of priests, the closing of churches and of media outlets.

“If someone thinks he is indispensable, a dictator is being born. But if Ortega is making a mistake, let the Nicaraguan people punish him. If Maduro is making a mistake, let the Venezuelan people punish him,” Lula replied while calling Bolsonaro a “little dictator,” a “liar” and a “cheek,” while the current head of state said his predecessor is “a national disgrace” and a “thief.”

“I want a free country, where freedom of expression is respected, where private property is respected, where you can go home safely, go to work, go to school... We want a country without drugs; Lula will free drugs; we respect life, no to abortion; and respect for religions,” Bolsonaro said in his closing remarks. “That is the country we want, not Lula's.”

The leftwing candidate claimed he was the one who stood up for democracy. “I want to govern the country democratically, as I did twice.”

Bolsonaro accused his rival of “having a pact” with drug trafficker Marcos Camacho, alias Marcola, and claimed that the Workers' Party (PT) candidate was “surrounded by traffickers” during a rally in a Rio de Janeiro favela last Wednesday. “You have friendships with bandits. In the favela there was not a policeman by your side, there were only traffickers.”

Lula laughed at these accusations and linked Bolsonaro to criminality and poverty while underlining the latter's ties with paramilitary groups who control dozens of favelas in Rio de Janeiro. “Bolsonaro knows that who takes care of organized crime is not me. Who has a relationship with militiamen is not me. And he knows who it is. The organized crime that has a relationship with the death of Marielle.”

Marielle Franco was a Rio de Janeiro councilwoman known for her stance against militia groups, who was murdered in 2018.

Former Justice Minister and current Senator-elect Sergio Moro was part of Bolsonaro's entourage during Sunday's debate. According to Folha do Sao Paulo, the former judge, who had Lula incarcerated for corruption, passed by the PT candidate without greeting him.