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Most speculation has focused on who will be his finance minister, which will be a major signal to investors of his commitment to fiscal discipline. If Lula has settled on his pick, he has not yet told even his closes aides. "He banned any talk of this because in a tight election, anticipating names could have a negative impact," said a senior member of Lula's Workers Party who requested anonymity. Meirelles was finance minister in the government that replaced impeached President Dilma Rousseff in 2016, drawing lasting ire from some in the Workers Party. She would be a strong pick for agriculture minister, sources said, as she comes from farm state Mato Grosso do Sul, although she has said publicly she would rather be education minister.

☆ Brazil's Lula to send reps to COP27 climate summit after election win
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

SAO PAULO, Oct 31 (Reuters) - Brazilian President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will send representatives to next month's COP27 United Nations climate summit, allied environmentalist Marina Silva said on Monday, a day after the left-wing former president won a third term. The congresswoman-elect told Reuters in an interview that Lula would "definitely send broad representation" even if it was not an official delegation ahead of his Jan. 1 inauguration. Reporting by Jake Spring Editing by Brad HaynesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Brazil leftist Lula wins third presidential term to redeem tarnished legacy
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( Anthony Boadle | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

His policies lifted millions from extreme poverty, expanded access to education and healthcare, and reduced Brazil's deep social inequalities during years of robust growth driven by a global commodities boom. GLOBAL PRESTIGEHis presidency also reinvigorated Brazil's oil and ship-building industries, while its economy rose to sixth-largest in the world. Brazil's global prestige hit new levels as it was chosen to host the Olympics and soccer World Cup. However, Lula's legacy was tarnished amid revelations of a vast kickback scheme on public contracts, benefiting leaders from major political parties, including his own. A heavy smoker for years, Lula was treated with chemotherapy for throat cancer in 2011, deepening his gruff baritone.

SAO PAULO/BRASILIA, Oct 31 (Reuters) - Brazilian leftist leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva narrowly defeated President Jair Bolsonaro in a runoff election, but the far right incumbent did not concede defeat on Sunday night, raising concerns that he might contest the result. The Supreme Electoral Court (TSE) declared Lula the next president, with 50.9% of votes against 49.1% for Bolsonaro. It was a stunning comeback for the leftist former president and a punishing blow to Bolsonaro, the first Brazilian incumbent to lose a presidential election. [1/6] Brazil's former President and presidential candidate Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva reacts at an election night gathering on the day of the Brazilian presidential election run-off, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, October 30, 2022. "A former union leader born into poverty, Lula organized strikes against Brazil's military government in the 1970s.

"Brazil is ready to retake its leadership in the fight against the climate crisis," Lula told a crowd of supporters in Sao Paulo. Silva said that Brazil would demand rich countries provide financing to poor countries to respond to climate change and give compensation for permanent "loss and damage" from climate change. Under Lula, Brazil will also discuss expanding its national targets for cutting climate-related emissions, said Silva, his former environment minister from 2003 to 2008. The firm, with roughly 237 billion euros ($234 billion) in assets under management, only owned about 100 million euros in Brazilian sovereign bonds when the prohibition took effect. Environmental advocates also cheered Lula's proposals for the Amazon, but cautioned that his agenda would face enormous political resistance.

☆ Brazil votes in heated Bolsonaro vs. Lula presidential runoff
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-30 | by ( Anthony Boadle | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Bolsonaro has vowed to consolidate a sharp conservative turn in Brazilian politics after a presidency marred by the pandemic. Lula promises more social and environmental responsibility, recalling the rising prosperity of his 2003-2010 presidency, before corruption scandals tarred his Workers Party. Several polls showed the race between them tightening in the final week, with Bolsonaro eroding a slight lead for Lula. Bolsonaro outperformed opinion polls in the first round of voting on Oct. 2 among a field of 11 candidates. POST-ELECTION CONCERNSBrazil's electoral authorities are preparing for a narrow result, which Bolsonaro may contest if he loses.

☆ Bolsonaro-Lula presidential race down to the wire in Brazil, polls show
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-29 | by ( Anthony Boadle | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

A survey by pollster MDA showed Lula's edge slipping to just 2 percentage points, equal to the margin of error for the poll commissioned by transport sector lobby CNT. But Bolsonaro outperformed opinion polls in the first-round vote on Oct. 2, and many analysts say the election could go either way. The final opinion surveys by pollsters IPEC and AtlasIntel, however, showed Lula holding a stable and slightly larger lead. AtlasIntel, among the most accurate pollsters in the first round, showed Lula's lead holding at 7 percentage points. Lula vowed to revive those boom times, while Bolsonaro suggested current social programs are more effective.

☆ Bolsonaro, Lula trade blows in bruising final Brazil election debate
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/6] People observe a debate ahead of the runoff election between Brazil's President and candidate for re-election Jair Bolsonaro and former President and current candidate Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, October 28, 2022. REUTERS/Mariana GreifRIO DE JANEIRO, Oct 29 (Reuters) - Brazil's right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro and his leftist election rival, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, traded barbs late on Friday in their final televised debate ahead of Sunday's tense runoff vote. But Bolsonaro outperformed opinion polls in the first-round vote this month, and many analysts say the election could go either way. In their first head-to-head debate this month, Lula blasted Bolsonaro's handling of a pandemic in which nearly 700,000 Brazilians have died, while Bolsonaro focused on the graft scandals that tarnished the reputation of Lula's Workers Party. Lula vowed to revive those boom times, while Bolsonaro suggested current social programs are more effective.

Financial markets have largely priced in a Lula victory, but the uncertainty about a contested result has some on edge. "There is apprehension about whether the election result will be respected," said J.P. Morgan equity strategist Emy Shayo. The TSE rejected the complaint in a Wednesday ruling due to lack of evidence and asked Brazil's top prosecutor to investigate the Bolsonaro campaign for possible intent to disrupt the election. Another son, Congressman Eduardo Bolsonaro, told journalists that to address the issue properly might require postponing the election. Senior Bolsonaro campaign officials have said publicly that a postponement of the election is not up for discussion.

☆ Brazil's rural boomtowns ensure Bolsonarismo's future
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( Gabriel Stargardter | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

REUTERS/Gabriel StargardterCATANDUVA, Brazil, Oct 28 (Reuters) - The small city of Catanduva in the rural farm belt of Sao Paulo state has been ahead of the political curve in Brazil. The residents of Catanduva, who have benefited from robust Chinese demand for Brazilian commodities, are now fully behind Bolsonaro. Since Sahao stepped down in 2005, the PT has spent nearly two decades locked out of power at Catanduva's city hall. Across Sao Paulo, countless PSDB mayors and state lawmakers have, like Father Oliveira of Catanduva, thrown in their lot with Bolsonaro. Bassitt, the farmer, said the conservative values of rural, small-town Brazil were now the driving force in national politics.

Although Lula's 2003-2010 presidency effectively reduced destruction of the rainforest, he embraced traditional industrial development with little regard for emissions. In the United States, the progressive Green New Deal languished in Congress, while President Joe Biden adapted some of the ideas for his climate agenda. Marcio Astrini, the head of environmental lobby group Climate Observatory, said Lula's proposals were a promising blueprint, but added: "Whether it will happen in practice is another matter." By contrast, Bolsonaro's campaign has said little about his environmental proposals for a second term. [1/3] Macaws sit on a tree at the Amazon rainforest in Manaus, Amazonas State, Brazil October 26, 2022.

☆ Brazil central bank holds interest rates, eyes moderating growth
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( Marcela Ayres | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

BRASILIA, Oct 26 (Reuters) - Brazil's central bank on Wednesday held interest rates at a nearly six-year high for the second policy meeting in a row, noting that economic growth seems to be slowing but inflation remains high. In their statement of Wednesday's rate decision, Copom said indicators since their September meeting suggested "more moderate" economic growth in Brazil, but consumer inflation remains "high." In one of the few changes to the statement, the central bank indicated that 2023 and 2024 are now equally weighted on its policy horizon. Policymakers held their inflation outlook for this year unchanged at 5.8%, but raised their forecast for next year to 4.8%, from 4.6% last month, compared to a 3.25% target. After a law established the formal autonomy of the central bank last year, central bank chief Roberto Campos Neto is set to serve out his term through 2024, regardless of the election's result.

[1/4] An aerial view shows a deforested plot of the Amazon rainforest in Manaus, Amazonas State, Brazil July 8, 2022. REUTERS/Bruno Kelly/File PhotoSAO PAULO, Oct 26 (Reuters) - Brazil's presidential election on Sunday may determine the fate of the Amazon jungle, the world's largest rainforest, after deforestation soared in the past four years under President Jair Bolsonaro. Destruction in the Amazon rainforest last year hit the highest level since 2006, according to the government's space research agency INPE. Lula took office in 2003 with levels of Amazon deforestation near all-time highs. By 2010, his last year in office, deforestation had fallen by 72% to near record lows.

The new measures will cost some 273 billion reais ($52 billion) this year and next, according to an analysis of government figures by Reuters, adding to fiscal challenges for whoever wins the election. Congressional approval is pending for 146 billion reais worth of that spending. Federal prosecutors responsible for enforcing electoral law have not taken up calls to investigate the allegations of the president's abuse of his budgetary authority. Lula led Bolsonaro in the first-round vote by 5 percentage points overall, an advantage that opinion polls showed was bolstered by lower-income Brazilians. Auxilio Brasil is not the only program that government critics and legal experts have flagged on suspicion of skirting electoral law.

☆ Mayor of Brazil meatpacking hub probed amid wave of electoral coercion cases
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Ana Mano | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The sources said that Santa Catarina state labor prosecutors are running the investigation into Mayor Joao Rodrigues of Chapeco, a hotbed for Brazil's meatpacking industry. It will not if Bolsonaro remains president," Rodrigues said in a video seen by Reuters, addressing the local business community before stating his name and title. Brazil has seen a wave of complaints about Brazilian companies putting illegal political pressure on employees, amid the final stretch of a highly polarized presidential campaign. Electoral law prohibits Brazilians from promising benefits or making threats to steer votes toward or away from a particular candidate. In the final moments of the 55-second video, Rodrigues tells business leaders "to get to work."

The Superior Electoral Court (TSE) said the measures are intended to curb the "distribution and sharing of knowingly untrue or gravely decontextualized information affecting the electoral process," according to the resolution. The tougher stance, defined by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who currently runs the TSE, reflects a more aggressive approach to a tidal wave of dirty campaigning that has engulfed Brazil ahead of the Oct. 30 runoff. The TSE has already ordered some disinformation videos to be taken down, including ones that say Lula consorts with Satan and Bolsonaro embraces cannibalism. The campaigns have also been ordered by the court to pull online ads saying the leftist will legalize abortion and the incumbent entertains pedophilia. Moraes said the platforms had helped keep disinformation within reasonable bounds ahead of the election's first-round vote on Oct. 2.

In one line of attack, Lula allies dug up a 2016 interview in which Bolsonaro said he was willing to eat human flesh in an unspecified indigenous ritual. In another, they circulated old images of Bolsonaro speaking at Masonic lodges, considered pagan temples by some of his evangelical Christian allies. The president won court injunctions that took that attack ad off the air and kept the subject out of a debate with Lula last Sunday. But every week that passes without Bolsonaro gaining ground is a battle won by Lula, who was Brazil's president from 2003 to 2010. "The focus now is to attack Lula and trigger fears of him returning to power," said a second Bolsonaro campaign source.

☆ Analysis: Lula, Bolsonaro and market look to cure Brazil consumer debt hangover
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( Tatiana Bautzer | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

With nearly 70 million Brazilians blacklisted by credit agency Serasa, owing 290 billion reais ($54.4 billion), debt relief is smart politics in a closely fought presidential campaign, ahead of an Oct. 30 runoff vote. Advisers say he would focus first on 95 billion reais of unpaid bills accumulated by families earning up to 3,600 reais ($676) per month. Later steps would focus on incentives to restructure bank debt, for this population. Looking to steal his thunder, right-wing incumbent Jair Bolsonaro announced a program offering a sharp discount on bank debts. But the scope is far more modest, applying to some 4 million borrowers from state bank Caixa Economica Federal, which estimated about 1 billion reais of restructuring.

☆ Bolsonaro ally running for Sao Paulo governor says campaign event 'attacked'
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SAO PAULO, Oct 17 (Reuters) - A close ally of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro running for governor of Sao Paulo, Tarcisio Freitas, said a campaign event was "attacked by criminals" on Monday in the Paraisopolis neighborhood of the state capital. Sao Paulo Public Security Secretary Joao Camilo Campos said that preliminary information suggested there had not been an attack targeting Freitas, although investigators had not ruled out any hypothesis. Officials confirmed a man was killed near the site of the campaign event, but provided no further details. During a visit to the 1st University Hub of Paraisopolis, we were attacked by criminals. Our security team was quickly reinforced with brilliant work by the @PMESP (Sao Paulo Military Police).

☆ Brazil to nominate ex-central bank governor Goldfajn to run the Inter-American Development Bank
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-16 | by ( Marcela Ayres | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRASILIA, Oct 16 (Reuters) - Brazil plans to nominate former central bank governor Ilan Goldfajn to head the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), a person familiar with the matter said on Sunday, as Latin America's largest economy seeks to secure its first presidency of the institution. The development bank will elect its next president on Nov. 20 after the ouster of Mauricio Claver-Carone in an ethics scandal. Currently head of the International Monetary Fund's Western Hemisphere department, Goldfajn led Brazil’s central bank under former President Michel Temer, before handing the reins to current chief Roberto Campos Neto in February 2019. Under Goldfajn’s tenure, the central bank began developing its Pix instant payment platform, which was launched under Campos Neto. After leaving the central bank, Goldfajn chaired the board of Credit Suisse in Brazil before joining the IMF.

☆ Afghan refugees camp out in Brazilian airport in search of new life
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( Fernando Cardoso | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Brazil has approved about 6,000 humanitarian visas for Afghan refugees since late last year. But local authorities near Sao Paulo's Guarulhos airport said they had little idea there would be dozens of Afghans arriving daily this month. The refugees told Reuters they arrived without promises of a place to stay and now the local government is scuttling to find places for them outside the airport grounds. Afghan women talk near makeshift tents made out of blankets as they camp at Sao Paulo International airport in search of refuge in Guarulhos, Brazil, October 12, 2022. The Sao Paulo state government is working with municipal authorities and civil society to attend to basic needs of the arriving refugees.

☆ Lula plans broad Brazil consumer debt renegotiation, adviser says
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( Marcela Ayres | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRASILIA, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Brazilian presidential candidate Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has proposed a broad consumer debt renegotiation program backed by government guarantees, aimed at relief for lower-income families if he wins an Oct. 30 runoff election, a senior adviser said. Renegotiated debts would be partially covered by a government guarantee fund of 7-16 billion reais, Mello said. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register"These are very reasonable amounts for the government to contribute," he added. The details of the plan, described broadly in Lula's leftist presidential platform, come after right-wing incumbent Jair Bolsonaro announced a debt renegotiation program for some 4 million clients of state bank Caixa Econômica Federal. But they are also studying strategies to encourage restructuring of bank debt at lower interest rates by reducing lenders' compulsory deposits.

☆ Lula lead narrows to less than 5 points in Brazil election - AtlasIntel survey
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRASILIA, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Brazilian presidential candidate Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's polling lead over incumbent Jair Bolsonaro has narrowed to less than 5 percentage points, according to a new opinion survey published on Thursday by pollster AtlasIntel. In its first poll since the first-round vote on Oct. 2, pollster AtlasIntel found 51.1% of voters for Lula and 46.5% behind Bolsonaro. Excluding undecided voters and null votes, Lula has 52.4% support and Bolsonaro 47.6%. AtlasIntel was one of several polling firms criticized for underestimating support for Bolsonaro in the first round, although it was closer than several more traditional pollsters. AtlasIntel had registered a 9-point lead for Lula ahead of that vote, when in fact the difference was just 5 points.

☆ Bolsonaro's outsider aura dims after Brazil's four tough years
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-29 | by ( Gabriel Stargardter | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Brazil's President and candidate for re-election Jair Bolsonaro attends a campaign rally in Santos in Sao Paulo state, Brazil, September 28, 2022. REUTERS/Amanda PerobelliRIO DE JANEIRO, Sept 29 (Reuters) - Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro once said only God could remove him from power. A career politician turned self-styled outsider, the tough-talking Bolsonaro was elected in 2018 on vows to clean up Brazil's graft-stained politics and modernize its economy. Prior to becoming president, Bolsonaro was known as a fringe conservative congressman, popular among police and soldiers in his Rio de Janeiro base. But with hunger still haunting some 33 million Brazilians, Bolsonaro is not getting much credit.

☆ Lula challenges Bolsonaro's grip on Brazil evangelical vote
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( Jimin Kang | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterShe is far from the only evangelical Christian in Brazil dancing around that delicate matter. Although Bolsonaro and his allies have worked to transform Brazil's fast-growing evangelical churches into the bedrock of his political base, this year's campaign has shown the limits of that electoral strategy. After Bolsonaro won the evangelical vote two-to-one in 2018, many more evangelicals — especially poorer women — are weighing a vote for Lula, whose legacy of generous social programs speaks powerfully to Brazil's less affluent evangelical voters. Even as Bolsonaro has built up an advantage over Lula in the heat of the campaign, he struggled to break past 50% of the evangelical vote in recent Datafolha surveys. Looking to bolster the 'shy' Lula vote among evangelicals, the Workers Party (PT) is partnering with leftist pastors like Paulo Marcelo Schallenberger, whose sermons aim to counter the party's "demonization" in evangelical circles.

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