Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva came under heavy fire on Friday as his rival attacked him on issues ranging from healthcare to corruption in a final debate two days ahead of the run-off presidential election.
Former Sao Paulo governor Geraldo Alckmin, who trails Lula by more than 20 points in opinion polls, blamed the incumbent for sluggish economic growth, high unemployment, insufficient healthcare and a deficient education system.
The challenger, who is favored by the business community, also highlighted the scandals that have tainted Lula's leftist Workers Party (PT) and accused the president of seeking to sell off the Amazon.
The charismatic president often found himself on the defensive as the usually soft-spoken Alckmin aggressively attacked the government's performance.
"How is it possible that a country with Brazil's wealth cannot care for its children properly," Alckmin said, claiming 10 percent of children who should be at school had to work.
"In all of Brazil, agriculture is in crisis, the people are suffering in the interior [and] there is poverty in metropolitan areas," he said.
"Brazil under Lula's government thankfully achieved a record increase in taxes," he added.
Alckmin turned the tables on Lula, who has claimed the challenger favored an unpopular sell-off of state-run companies.
"Could he explain the law he passed that would practically privatize the Amazon," Alckmin said in reference to legislation that allows private companies to acquire 30-year concessions to exploit some areas of the Amazon basin.
Lula pointed out Alckmin's Party of Brazilian Social Democracy (PSDB) had signed onto the law he said was crucial to "stop invasions of the forest."
He also dismissed as erroneous the negative figures brandished by his rival and repeatedly insisted Brazilians were far better off now than they were four years ago.
"Brazil's economy is a great, solid economy ... I am confident Brazil is ready to grow because all bases are set: more exports, lower interest rates -- they are dropping -- less inflation [and] an increase of the minimum salary," he said.
Lula heads into todays's run-off election with more than 60 percent in voter intention polls.
A onetime shoeshine boy, Lula, 61, is highly popular among impoverished Brazilians, thanks largely to his government's flagship social program that hands out cash subsidies to more 11 million needy families.
Once a firebrand strike leader, Lula has toned down his leftist rhetoric and maintained orthodox economic policies since his election, reassuring edgy investors.
But his campaign has been sullied by a series of scandals that led to the resignation of several government ministers and top PT officials.
Alckmin, 53, has capitalized on the sleaze, presenting himself as an honest alternative to a scandal-tainted government.
"The people are outraged with what has been going on for years and continues going on. The money that goes to corruption is the money that is lacking for schools, hospitals and sanitation," he said.
New claims of campaign wrongdoing by the PT that emerged last month appeared to have cost Lula the chance of winning outright in the Oct. 1 first round election.
A fire caused by a burst gas pipe yesterday spread to several homes and sent a fireball soaring into the sky outside Malaysia’s largest city, injuring more than 100 people. The towering inferno near a gas station in Putra Heights outside Kuala Lumpur was visible for kilometers and lasted for several hours. It happened during a public holiday as Muslims, who are the majority in Malaysia, celebrate the second day of Eid al-Fitr. National oil company Petronas said the fire started at one of its gas pipelines at 8:10am and the affected pipeline was later isolated. Disaster management officials said shutting the
DITCH TACTICS: Kenyan officers were on their way to rescue Haitian police stuck in a ditch suspected to have been deliberately dug by Haitian gang members A Kenyan policeman deployed in Haiti has gone missing after violent gangs attacked a group of officers on a rescue mission, a UN-backed multinational security mission said in a statement yesterday. The Kenyan officers on Tuesday were on their way to rescue Haitian police stuck in a ditch “suspected to have been deliberately dug by gangs,” the statement said, adding that “specialized teams have been deployed” to search for the missing officer. Local media outlets in Haiti reported that the officer had been killed and videos of a lifeless man clothed in Kenyan uniform were shared on social media. Gang violence has left
US Vice President J.D. Vance on Friday accused Denmark of not having done enough to protect Greenland, when he visited the strategically placed and resource-rich Danish territory coveted by US President Donald Trump. Vance made his comment during a trip to the Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, a visit viewed by Copenhagen and Nuuk as a provocation. “Our message to Denmark is very simple: You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland,” Vance told a news conference. “You have under-invested in the people of Greenland, and you have under-invested in the security architecture of this
Japan unveiled a plan on Thursday to evacuate around 120,000 residents and tourists from its southern islets near Taiwan within six days in the event of an “emergency”. The plan was put together as “the security situation surrounding our nation grows severe” and with an “emergency” in mind, the government’s crisis management office said. Exactly what that emergency might be was left unspecified in the plan but it envisages the evacuation of around 120,000 people in five Japanese islets close to Taiwan. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has stepped up military pressure in recent years, including