Brazilian presidential hopeful Aecio Neves on Sunday earned a key endorsement in his bid to defeat Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff — from environmentalist candidate Marina Silva.
The Social Democrat Neves lost to Rousseff in the first round a week ago, but opinion polls now show him in a statistical dead heat with her ahead of the Oct. 26 run-off — making Silva’s backing vital.
The pair are battling to run Latin America’s largest country, with a population of 202 million, which is also the world’s seventh-largest economy.
“Taking into account the policy commitments made by Aecio Neves, I declare my support. I vote for Aecio Neves,” said Silva, whose once promising campaign flamed out in the first round.
Silva said that the pro-business Neves had moved sufficiently close to her positions on several issues to warrant her endorsement.
“I see a swathe of historic commitments,” said Silva, citing his promise to maintain social welfare programs that have lifted tens of millions of Brazilians out of poverty over the past decade.
Silva’s campaign promise of a “new politics” saw her garner 22 million votes in the first round — which Neves must court if he is to win.
Neves, the 54-year-old scion of a political dynasty and business-world favorite, must persuade at least six in 10 Silva voters to back him if he is to make up an eight-point first-round gap on Rousseff.
The incumbent — who is Brazil’s first female president and a former leftist guerrilla who was once imprisoned and tortured by the country’s military regime — is bidding to hand her Workers Party a fourth straight term.
Latest polls show Neves just leading Rousseff by 46 percent to 44 percent — well within the margin for error.
Silva, who ran on the Socialist Party ticket after initial pick Eduardo Campos died in an August plane crash, made Neves wait before offering her personal support.
He has already obtained endorsements from both her party and the Greens.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese