00:11Welcome back to From the South and let's go to Brazil with just one week before Brazil's
00:16presidential runoff, President Luís Inácio Lula da Silva and far-right candidate Flávio
00:21Bolsonaro faced off in a televised debate. Our special envoy Belén de los Santos will bring us
00:26the details. Hello, studios. Exactly an important day here in Brazil. A day of mobilizations that
00:37ended with this presidential debate with the two candidates. We're talking about President
00:42Lula da Silva and also Flávio Bolsonaro who faced each other in this first debate. We are one week
00:48away from the runoff that will take place on October 25th. One of the major topics, actually,
00:53the debate opened with this is security, also one of the major concerns, as every poll is indicating.
01:00Flávio Bolsonaro on this topic talked about an alleged war on drugs. He has been repeating this
01:06phrase as well. And let's recall that this is following on the direct strategy that the U.S.
01:12has on this topic for the entire region. He also talked about naming the drug or drug trafficking
01:18organizations as terrorist organizations. Again, following in the strategy that the United States
01:25is taking and has particularly for the region. So there's a specific link there that analysts are
01:31pointing to. Lula da Silva on his behalf. He also talked about this issue, of course, saying that it is
01:39one of the most important. But he focused on the importance of the coordination between the security
01:46agencies, how that is key to achieve results. He also pointed at the links between the candidate
01:53Flávio Bolsonaro and the militias, for example, something that a lot of evidence has shown during
01:59the past month, but also years, particularly from his connections in Rio de Janeiro.
02:04Some strategies regarding this debate. Flávio Bolsonaro, as every opposition leader,
02:10is tackling the focus on different hardships regarding day-to-day life, promising a new mandate where
02:19these hardships would be solved. One important thing is that, and this has been a constant for the
02:25campaign. Many analysts have pointed this out. He is not specifically talking about which measures,
02:32how he would achieve this supposed result. This is something that Lula Silva also pressed on
02:39when he asked him, particularly if, for example, the model that Millet is leading in Argentina
02:45continues to be a model for him. He has said this in the past, but Argentina has shown not the
02:52greatest
02:52results in the past month, particularly in unemployment or poverty, for example. So he pressed on this.
02:59Also, another topic that Lula da Silva particularly asked about were the links between
03:06Flávio Bolsonaro and Daniel Borucado. Let's recall that we are talking about the scandal regarding Banco
03:13Master, one of the biggest frauds of Brazilian history, and the direct links with Flávio Bolsonaro
03:21in this corruption scandal. Lula da Silva pressed on this, and Flávio Bolsonaro did not give an answer.
03:28This is one of the highlights of the debate as well. On his behalf and on his main points,
03:35Lula da Silva has strengthened the importance of the history, not only of this mandate,
03:42but all the achievements of his three mandates and the important social conquests, for example,
03:49that the government of Lula da Silva, the three governments have achieved, of course, with an
03:54important point this week when the labor week was reduced. That is important as well and was one of the
04:02topics of the debate. We are seeing the importance of the impact of the debate, and that is something
04:08that we'll be analyzing on the days to come, because you know that this is a very close race, so
04:13everything here matters, and we are going to see if this is tipping or not the scale. Of course,
04:19we'll have more information throughout the week. I'll go back to you now.
