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Focus on the big picture

Brazil clash of titans as Bolsonaro faces Lula

AP, 01 Oct 2022
(30 Sep 2022)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY: PART NO ACCESS BRAZIL
ASSOCIATED PRESSRio de Janeiro - 29 September 2022
1. SOUNDBITE (English) David Biller, Brazil News Director, Associated Press: ++SOUNDBITE OVERLAYED WITH SHOTS 2  TO 28++
"There are almost a dozen candidates in Brazil's presidential election on Sunday but only two really stand a chance: former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who is known as Lula, and incumbent Jair Bolsonaro. It's a clash of political titans, and polls show eight of 10 Brazilians say they will vote for one of the two candidates. The election could signal the return of a leftist government after four years under a far-right president whose been criticized for challenging democratic institutions, mishandling the pandemic, and the worst deforestation in the Amazon in 15 years. Polls show Lula with a commanding lead that might even give him a first-round victory without need for a runoff. Even if that doesn't happen, the vote marks an improbable comeback for the former president who just four years ago was jailed as part of a massive corruption investigation. That allowed Bolsonaro to cruise to victory in 2018. The Supreme Court later analled the convictions enabling Lula to mount a challenge this year. Lula has sought to remind working class voters that his presidency featured a huge social welfare program that lifted tens of millions of people into the middle class. That isn't what Bolsonaro wants them to remember. He often refers to Lula as a 'thief' and 'ex-convict.'
The former army captain campaigned in 2018 on a platform of getting tough on crime while defending traditional family values and national pride.
This time he met headwinds, in part due to his pandemic policies that a Senate investigation said warranted criminal charges. Women in particular turned their backs on him due to his apparent lack of empathy and for sowing doubt about vaccines. Bolsonaro has sought to improve his standing by highlighting his administration's welfare programs. But tough times still remain in Brazil, with high inflation and food insecurity. Bolsonaro has softened the blow by lowering fuel taxes and increasing welfare payments.
He's also insisted that Brazil's electronic voting system is prone to fraud, without presenting any evidence for the claim. But that has raised concerns he could reject election results and try to cling to power."
POOL VIA ASSOCIATED PRESS
ARCHIVE: Brasilia – 1 January 2019  
2. Bolsonaro receiving the presidential sash from Temer
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ARCHIVE: Washington, DC - 19 March 2019
3. Bolsonaro, giving a Brazil soccer jersey to Donald Trump, then-President of the United States, with his name on it
GOVERNMENT TV
ARCHIVE: Brasilia – 7 July 2020
++VIDEO QUALITY AS INCOMING++
4. Bolsonaro announcing he tested positive for COVID-19
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ARCHIVE: Itaituba Region, Pará State -  31 August 2021
++ AERIAL SHOTS MUTE++
5. Aerial shot of deforested and burned area next to Amazon forest
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ARCHIVE: Sao Paulo – 20 August 2022
6. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Brazilian Presidential candidate, addressing supporters
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ARCHIVE: Sao Bernardo do Campo – 16 August 2022
7. Lula greeting Volkswagen workers during his campaign in front of the plant  
PARANA FEDERAL JUSTICE  
ARCHIVE: Curitiba – 10 May 2017
8. Lula da Silva, his lawyers and federal judge Sergio Moro seated in a room
9. Lula da Silva speaking
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ARCHIVE: Curitiba - 7 April 2018
++NIGHT SHOTS++  
POOL VIA ASSOCIATED PRESS  
ARCHIVE: Rio de Janeiro - 28 October 2018
POOL  - ASSOCIATED PRESS

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