00:00Brazil elects a president this Sunday, and nobody knows who will win yet.
00:05On one side is Luis Inácio Lula da Silva, the nearly 81-year-old left-wing president seeking a
00:10fourth term.
00:11On the other side, Flavio Bolsonaro, a 45-year-old senator and Jair Bolsonaro's eldest son,
00:16The former president, who is currently serving a 27-year sentence under house arrest for attempting a coup d'état
00:22to prevent Lula from assuming power in 2023.
00:25The first surprise came on October 4th. In the first round, Flavio beat Lula with 47%.
00:30of the votes against by 45%.
00:32At that time, the main polling firms gave Lula as the favorite.
00:36During the next two weeks, the polls shifted towards Flavio.
00:39Atlas Intel managed to give them a lead of more than 5 points.
00:42Of the 16 polls published after the first round, Flavio appeared ahead in 14.
00:47But in the last few days the race was closed.
00:49Quest gives Flavio 45% and Lula 44%.
00:53Nexus, 46.5 versus 45.9.
00:56And this Thursday, Tata Folia, the country's most traditional polling firm,
01:00It published an exact tie with 50% of the votes for each.
01:05Everything is within the margin of error.
01:07Lula is looking for what Brazilians call the turnaround,
01:10the word they use in football for a comeback.
01:12The left took to the streets and WhatsApp,
01:14where Lula's so-called army numbers 8.5 million followers
01:18to fight the right wing for a territory it had always dominated: social media.
01:23That's why Friday night's debate is key.
01:26It's the last face-to-face debate before voting, on TV Globo, Brazil's largest network.
01:31at 7:20 pm, Colombia time.
01:33The first debate, held last Sunday in Band, was a disaster of insults.
01:38Flavio accused Lula of having criminal gangs in his government and of protecting drug traffickers.
01:42Lula responded by asking if he had already asked to lend Javier Milei the chainsaw.
01:47For much of the debate, Flavio stood behind Lula,
01:51shaking her head as he spoke.
01:53Therefore, Globo announced that this time it will limit how much the candidates can move around the studio.
01:58In addition, more than one million people signed a petition
02:01so that the network can correct live anyone who tells lies.
02:04And disinformation is the other battleground.
02:07Lula's campaign accuses Meta of favoring Bolsonaro with its algorithm.
02:10something the company denies.
02:12Bolsonaro, in turn, accuses Lula of using an official government WhatsApp account to campaign.
02:17And what does all this have to do with Colombia?
02:19A lot.
02:20Brazil is the neighbor with whom we share the most border,
02:231,644 kilometers in the heart of the Amazon.
02:26If Flavio wins, the Priella family would have an ideological ally in Brasilia.
02:31Three days after the first round, they both had a video call.
02:34Flavio promised him a very tough regime against drug trafficking.
02:38They exchanged information and something more concrete.
02:40Arrest the Colombian criminals who are in Brazil and hand them over.
02:43In exchange for Colombia doing the same for the Brazilians.
02:46If Lula wins, the relationship would be colder, but pragmatic.
02:49Lula was an ally of Petro and yet he quickly congratulated the Priella family.
02:53He said that the friendship between the two countries transcends ideologies.
02:55and that we must work together on the Amazon, poverty, and organized crime.
02:59His main international advisor, Celso Amorim, sums it up like this.
03:03They need us and we need them.
03:07Meanwhile, the Colombian government has not yet appointed an ambassador to Brazil.
03:11Sunday's result could also accelerate this appointment.
