Presidential election in Brazil: Jair Bolsonaro’s son nominated as candidate against Lula

Manufactured by rapid crises, Flavio Bolsonaro was nominated on Saturday as a candidate for the October election in Brazil against President Lula, and assumed the role of heir to his father, the former far-right head of state Jair Bolsonaro, detained for attempted coup d’état.

“I can be calmer, more smiling, more peaceful and moderate, but here the blood of Bolsonaro flows!”, he said, patting his arm. According to him, Brazil “can take big steps towards a dictatorship” if the champion of the left Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva wins a fourth non-consecutive mandate.

This 45-year-old senator was little known at the national level before the former president (2019-2022), now imprisoned for attempted coup d’état, designated him as his political heir.

Carried by his surname, he quickly became the main opponent of left-wing President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva for the October election. In his interviews, Flavio describes himself as a “more moderate Bolsonaro”, but affirms that his father will remain his “compass”.

Dubbed by Milei

With ultra-liberal Argentine President Javier Milei as the star guest, the Liberal Party (PL), Brazil’s main conservative party, held its convention in front of a thousand people in the megalopolis Sao Paulo to put Senator Bolsonaro, 45, into orbit.

The campaign which is opening is already under the sign of American President Donald Trump, ally of the Bolsonaro family, who has just imposed two waves of punitive customs duties on Brazil for alleged unfair trade practices.

Reference of a right on the rise in Latin America, Javier Milei warned against “the Lula risk” in October, in a fiery speech where he affirmed that Brazil must end “its submission to the leftist”.

Flavio Bolsonaro cried while talking about his father, who appeared in a video made by artificial intelligence. The courts have banned him from speaking publicly since he served his 27-year prison sentence under house arrest.

Often dressed in the jersey of the Brazilian football team, adopted as a symbol by the Bolsonarists, the sympathizers repeatedly shouted “Lula thief!”, amid drums and flags in a hangar adjoining the Pacaembu stadium.

After a good start which placed him neck and neck with his rival, Jair Bolsonaro’s eldest son has lost momentum in recent weeks. According to a survey published Friday by the Datafolha institute, Lula obtains 48% of voting intentions, and he 43%.

“Little jealousy”

The bad patch began when the Intercept Brasil site revealed in May an audio message that Flavio Bolsonaro had sent to Daniel Vorcaro, a banker since arrested for vast financial fraud, in order to ask him for money to finance a film about his father. Flavio Bolsonaro denied any wrongdoing and any “intimacy” with the banker.

Another front opened within his family itself in June, when his mother-in-law Michelle Bolsonaro complained on social networks of a “humiliation” that he allegedly subjected her to during a telephone conversation.

The former first lady is essential to the conservative camp in attracting voters and the powerful evangelical movement.

Thursday, after an apology from her son-in-law, Michelle Bolsonaro, in a perfectly oiled choreography, granted him forgiveness, sealing a reconciliation.

Absent on Saturday, Michelle Bolsonaro gave her support to Flavio Bolsonaro in a video, as did Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“Traitor”

Donald Trump also complicates the situation for the right-wing contender. Camping himself as a defender of Brazilian “sovereignty”, Lula accuses Flavio Bolsonaro of being a “traitor” who supports the trade war launched by Washington against Brasilia.

The new US customs duties imposed on Brazilian products come after a first surcharge in 2025 imposed in retaliation for the trial of Bolsonaro Sr.

This initial commercial sanction, pushed by a brother of Flavio Bolsonaro, Eduardo, was partly canceled after a brief rapprochement between Lula and his American counterpart.

Recently, Flavio Bolsonaro asked the Trump administration to waive new customs duties, so that Lula does not take political advantage of American pressure. In vain.

With AFP