Brazil's right-wing party nominates Bolsonaro's son to battle Lula

Brazil's right-wing Liberal Party on Saturday formally nominated Flavio Bolsonaro, a 45-year-old senator and son of imprisoned ex-president Jair Bolsonaro, as its candidate in the October presidential election.

He is set to face off against leftist incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, 80, who is seeking a fourth nonconsecutive term and has gained momentum in recent weeks as the younger Bolsonaro faced a series of crises.

Far-right firebrand Jair Bolsonaro anointed his eldest son Flavio as his political heir after being sentenced to 27 years in prison for plotting a coup following his 2022 election loss to Lula.

"I may be calmer, more cheerful, more composed and more moderate, but Bolsonaro blood flows here!" Flavio, touching his arm, declared to a cheering crowd in a warehouse in São Paulo.

He warned that Brazil – Latin America's largest country in population, area and economy – "could take giant strides toward a dictatorship" if Lula wins re-election.

That alarmist rhetoric was echoed by Argentina's President Javier Milei, who joined the convention in person to lend support to Flavio Bolsonaro.

"I firmly believe there is no-one else capable of putting an end to the Lula risk hanging over Brazil," Milei said in a typically fiery speech.

Wearing Brazilian national team jerseys, which have become a symbol of the Bolsonaro movement, supporters beat drums and waved flags inside a warehouse next to São Paulo's Pacaembu Stadium.

"We would have liked our candidate to be Jair Bolsonaro, but today Flavio is the best choice," Fernando Moeno, a 50-year-old retired military police officer attending the convention, told AFP.

Flavio Bolsonaro teared up as he referenced his father, who appeared in an AI-generated video. Courts have barred the ex-president from making political statements while he serves his sentence under house arrest.

Promising to crack down on crime and inflation, Flavio was neck-and-neck with Lula in the polls until he was hit by a series of scandals: ties to a disgraced banker, a family feud, and new tariffs imposed by ally US President Donald Trump.

Pollster Datafolha published a survey Friday showing that in a run-off election, Lula would win 48 percent of votes to Flavio's 43 percent.

A wave of scandals

Flavio's troubles began in May when an audio recording leaked of him asking banker Daniel Vorcaro – accused in a multi-million-dollar fraud case – to finance a film about his father.

Flavio initially denied any contact with Vorcaro and told a reporter that the accusation was "a lie." He now says their relationship was limited to the movie.

On Thursday, a Supreme Court justice ordered an investigation into the financing of the film.

Then Flavio's stepmother Michelle Bolsonaro posted an Instagram video saying he had "disrespected me and mistreated me... he said I didn't understand anything about politics."

The former first lady is key to the right-wing movement's appeal among Brazil's large female and evangelical electorate.

Flavio then read out a letter on social media from Jair Bolsonaro urging unity – contravening the terms of his father's house arrest, prompting a Supreme Court justice to deny him visits with Jair until after the first round of voting.

This week, Flavio posted a video apologising to Michelle, who quickly accepted the olive branch.

Tariff troubles

Flavio has cast himself as a more moderate version of his father, but is a hardliner on crime and this week echoed the older Bolsonaro in raising debunked concerns about Brazil's electronic voting system.

A Brazilian diplomatic source said Saturday that visas had been denied to US officials seeking talks on election matters over concerns of a "risk of political exploitation."

But a US State Department spokesperson said: "Any insinuation of a 'ploy' to undermine a democratic nation's election is a baseless lie."

The senator has struggled to seal alliances with Brazil's influential centrist bloc, with key parties announcing they will remain neutral in the October 4 election.

Flavio Bolsonaro has also faced backlash after Trump's administration imposed two new rounds of tariffs on Brazil this month.

The Bolsonaro family had backed earlier tariffs imposed in retaliation for the trial of the former president, prompting Lula to accuse them of treason.