Brazil’s president, lagging in the polls, turns to God and cash
Weeks before an election, Jair Bolsonaro is 15 points behind his rival Lula
Francisco teixeira, a 47-year-old former construction worker in a favela in São Paulo, has fond memories of the presidency of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Brazil’s leftist leader from 2003 to 2010. He earned a salary and benefits and his relatives in the poor, north-eastern state of Piauí received enough government help that they didn’t have to migrate to São Paulo. Then came a corruption scandal, a recession and the impeachment of Lula’s successor, Dilma Rousseff. Mr Teixeira got laid off and started driving a taxi. In 2018 he voted for a former army captain, Jair Bolsonaro.
This article appeared in the The Americas section of the print edition under the headline “Far behind, but gaining”
From the August 27th 2022 edition
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