00:00And as we have been going over the electoral process of Brazil throughout the week, let's welcome again Belen de
00:07los Santos, our special envoy in Sao Paulo, for more details on how this electoral day is taking place as
00:13Brazilians go to the polls in this very moment. Welcome once more, Belen.
00:21Hello, Luis. Exactly as you were saying, from Rio de Janeiro, actually the second largest city here in the country.
00:28The voting day is going according to normal. Everything is good. A little bit of what we were saying. You
00:35were just mentioning now both main candidates have already exercised their right to vote and they've also spoken to the
00:42press a little bit, of course, calling for the voters and their participation.
00:46Lula de Silva, in particular, spoke and said during this day that people needed to stay calm and that they
00:54would win this game in the end. Let's recall that this is happening amid a context of polls predicting a
01:01very tight race between both candidates. And while I tell you this, let me show you a little bit of
01:08what is happening here. We're in Copacabana, actually. You do not get much more Rio de Janeiro than this. We're
01:13just in front of the beach.
01:15We're just saying that the polls were predicting a very tight race, as you were just mentioning. If none of
01:21the main candidates make it past 50 percentage points, they will be heading into a runoff that will take place
01:27on October 25th.
01:29Also in the context of increased tensions by the United States that has made several mechanisms of interference also denounced
01:39by their own people, by the congressmen and women from the US who addressed the Secretary of State just a
01:47few days ago last week twice to ask for just explanations regarding this constant interference in the electoral process of
01:58Brazil.
01:58Of course, this all happens in the US also increasing pressure in the entire region and the way that Brazil
02:07decides this month how its future is going to go.
02:10It's going to be one of the fundamental parts and key aspects to understand what will happen for the region
02:18in the coming year.
02:20So in that context, President Lula da Silva called everyone to remain calm, to continue doing everything they're doing.
02:28He said he was confident that they would make a good election and he said, quote unquote, win this game
02:36in the end.
02:37That is what we are seeing here from Copacabana. Once again, we are at the school Cicero Pena right now
02:44and a little bit of what is happening, Luis.
02:48Well, of course, the focus are on the presidential race in this general election, especially between the two frontrunners, Lula
02:54da Silva and Flavio Bolsonaro.
02:56But there is much more at stakes in this election. More is being decided today. What can you tell us
03:01about us?
03:08Well, we lost contact with our special envoy in Rio de Janeiro, Belén de los Santos.
