By Catarina Demony and Miguel Pereira
LISBON (Reuters) – Brazil’s Ieda Ferreira woke up early morning to stand in a long queue in the Portuguese capital Lisbon, her home for five years, to vote in her country’s presidential runoff. Brazil, he says, is more divided than ever.
“Brazil has become very polarized,” said the 46-year-old, who wore all the red, the color of Brazil’s Left Workers’ Party led by former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. “The government in forceArray. . Preaches hatred and violence
Ferreira is among tens of thousands of people in Lisbon, the city with the largest number of Brazilian voters outside the South American country, lining up to vote in a tense contest between Lula and Jair Bolsonaro.
About 81,000 Brazilians in Portugal have the right to vote, more than a fraction of whom are registered in Lisbon, according to the consulate. Videos on social media also showed long queues in London, Paris and Madrid.
The line to vote in Lisbon snaked around the city’s law university, with voters exposed to divisions.
Some wore T-shirts with Lula’s call and face, while others wore Brazil’s yellow and green soccer jersey, which has become a symbol of Bolsonaro’s.
Antonio Coelho, 80, wore a green blouse and a yellow vest and said that in his idea that the result would be “very even,” Bolsonaro would still win.
“It’s that he (Bolsonaro) wins because we don’t need a user who stole the entire country, like Lula, as president,” Coelho said.
Lula jailed in 2018 for 19 months for corruption convictions that the Supreme Court overturned last year.
Several polls have shown the race between them has narrowed over the past week, with Bolsonaro eroding a slight lead for Lula. Others show small but consistent merit for Lula.
Another Bolsonaro supporter, 65-year-old dentist Waldir Rodrigues, said the far-right candidate “represents Brazil’s. “
But if for some Bolsonaro is the option, his comments beyond racism and homophobia have also been the explanation for why others have left Brazil since his election.
“I didn’t need to live in a country ruled by Bolsonaro,” said Gabriel Freitas, 38, holding a rainbow flag. “I’m gay. I was in Rio (de Janeiro), it was harmful and it was bigger not to stay.
“I don’t need to go back. . . However, my father is still there and I need Brazilians to live in love, not hated. “
(Information through Catarina Demony, Miguel Pereira and Pedro Nunes; Editing by Philippa Fletcher)
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