Lula and Bolsonaro’s mudslinging heats up ahead of weekend vote

Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and his election rival Flavio Bolsonaro are leaving no controversy unturned in their last-ditch efforts to discredit each other and win over voters ahead of Sunday's nail-biter election. A campaign dominated by scandals and insults has done little to ease the deep political polarisation in Latin America's biggest economy – one of the last major leftist bastions in the region. The tight race pits Lula, 80, against the son of former far-right president Jair Bolsonaro, a close ally of US President Donald Trump who has backed a wave of victorious right-wing candidates in Latin America. Trump said Thursday he was watching Brazil's election "very closely". Opinion polls predict the vote will go to a run-off on October 25, with Lula and Flavio in a dead heat. Read moreFlavio Bolsonaro probed for corruption as Brazil election tightens "The race is tied but not at a standstill: the final week will determine where the voters who can still be swayed will go," Felipe Nunes, director of the Quaest polling institute, told AFP. Many of the nation's 160 million registered voters are disenchanted with their options and were deprived of a debate between t...