Flávio Bolsonaro says he is more moderate than his father, the former president Jair Bolsonarohis surname and the promise of relaunching the ideas of the leader of the Brazilian right have made him a favorite in the runoff.
Less given to outbursts than his father and with a jovial smile, Flávio inherited his powerful conservative base, while winning over voters fed up with Brazil’s leftist president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
He surpassed his father’s result in 2022 by more than five million votes and was surprisingly ahead of Lula in the first round on October 4. “You will see Jair Messias Bolsonaro put the presidential sash on his son,” Flávio proclaimed to a crowd of more than 70,000 supporters in São Paulo.
The senator promises to free his father, who is serving a sentence of 27 years under house arrest for attempting a coup d’état after losing re-election to Lula.
“I may be calmer, more prone to smiling, more relaxed and moderate. But I have the blood of a Bolsonaro,” said the senator.
Without leaving home, Jair Bolsonaro has been present in the campaign. His image was seen on t-shirts and posters and even in a controversial deepfake video used by Flávio. “Come back, Bolsonaro!” chanted the crowd in São Paulo on Sunday.
Flávio said that his father was delighted with the results of the first round and “very happy to have been heard by the majority of the people.” He later stated in an interview that a position for Jair in a possible government “is not on the radar”, since he did not mention it to him.
“Acts like a reincarnation of his father. I have no doubt who will have the last word if elected,” observes the political analyst. Thomas Traumann to Afp in reference to the former president.
Born in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Flávio is the eldest of the former president’s five children and the one that basically resembles him the most.
His brothers Carlos and Jair Renan They are elected congressmen, just like their stepmother Michelle and all of them make up a powerful political dynasty, despite their public differences.
Flávio usually wears a suit and fine glasses, although for the campaign he often put on a suit. Brazil national team shirtlike his father did. Married, father of two daughters and evangelicalcultivates an image of a devout man.
He is a lawyer and He debuted in politics at the age of 21 as state representative of Rio de Janeiro. In campaigning, he displayed the relaxed style and slang that distinguishes the inhabitants of the city of Rio. During his first debate with Lula, the president described him as a “Carioca malandro” Depending on the tone, it means a criminal, scoundrel, rogue or rogue.
In September it emerged that the senator is being investigated for corruption and money laundering linked to the financing of darkhorsea film about his father. When he was a legislator in Rio, he was accused of creating a scheme to keep a portion of his advisers’ salaries, but the case was dropped.
His detractors accuse him of alleged links with the Rio militias, paramilitary groups that control popular neighborhoods, an accusation that he denies.
His speeches focus on attacks on Lula, which in turn shakes him, and promises to get tough on crime and cuts in public spending.
In artificial intelligence videos, he presents himself as a hero rescuing Brazil aboard a fighter. In one of them, his avatar shoots drug traffickers on a boat.
Flavio says he will strengthen ties with the United States and his rallies have included American flags and inflatable dolls of his ally Donald Trump.
Labor reform
He fiercely criticized Lula’s proposal to reduce the work week, but ended up voting in favor on the eve of the runoff. He has also made more efforts than his father to cultivate the female vote.
In a biography of Jair Bolsonaro which he wrote in 2017, Flávio shows a more reactionary side. He defended the military coup of 1964 in Brazil as a necessary intervention to prevent a communist takeover.
He also described the military regime, which lasted until 1985, as a “period that some like to call dictatorship” and had praise for the colonel convicted of torture Carlos Alberto Brilhante Ustrawhom he described as a national hero and upright and principled man who helped preserve democracy.
