Lula and Bolsonaro hold final rallies before Brazil runoff

Brazilian presidential candidates Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Flávio Bolsonaro held final rallies on Saturday, the last day of campaigning before Sunday’s runoff, as polling showed a close contest after Bolsonaro led the first round. The rallies brought supporters into the streets in several cities. Lula addressed a crowd at Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana beach, while Bolsonaro supporters gathered in Belo Horizonte, the capital of Minas Gerais state. Bolsonaro also appeared later in Rio, according to reporting from the campaign events. The scale of Lula’s Copacabana rally was described very differently. Rio City Hall estimated about 1.1 million attendees, while another account characterized the crowd as hundreds of supporters. The reports do not establish a common counting method, so the size of the gathering remains disputed. Lula also attended a rally on São Paulo’s Paulista Avenue on Saturday afternoon. Bolsonaro won 47% of the vote in the first round, compared with Lula’s 45%, according to election coverage. Polls published during the final week offered different snapshots of the close race. A CNT/MDA survey released Saturday put Bolsonaro at 46.3% and Lula at 45%, with a...