Lula makes an appeal to Brazilian evangelicals

• The front-runner in Brazil’s presidential election has sent an open letter to the nation’s evangelicals.
• He is trying to weaken President Jair Bolsonaro’s support ahead of the second round.
• Lula vowed to uphold religious liberty if elected, just as he did from 2003 to 2010.

Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the front-runner in Brazil’s tight election, has sent an open letter to the nation’s evangelicals in an effort to weaken President Jair Bolsonaro’s support ahead of the second round of voting.

In the letter, which was read in front of evangelical leaders on Wednesday at a hotel in Sao Paulo, Lula vowed to uphold religious liberty if elected, just as he did from 2003 to 2010.

The letter stated, “We are living in a period where lies are utilized extensively with the goal of generating dread in good faith individuals, pushing them away from a candidacy that is protecting them more.”

“For this reason, I felt the need to restate my commitment to religious freedom in our nation.”

After a first round of voting on October 2 in which Lula defeated Bolsonaro but fell short of the required number of votes to avoid a second round, Brazilians will vote once more in less than two weeks.

Before the vote on October 30, Lula still has a lead over Bolsonaro, but Brazilian polls have overestimated public support for the far-right candidate, who is heavily backed by evangelicals and other conservatives.

Nearly a third of Brazilians identify as evangelical, which is more than double the percentage from 20 years ago.

By 2032, they will overtake Catholics in number, according to demographer Jose Eustaquio Diniz Alves, a former researcher at the National School of Statistical Sciences.

As they did four years ago when they assisted in Bolsonaro’s election, some of Brazil’s most well-known evangelical pastors have participated in the campaign for Bolsonaro.

Additionally, according to the most recent Datafolha poll, which was issued on Friday, Bolsonaro has the support of roughly 65 percent of evangelicals compared to 31 percent for Lula. According to polls, Catholics—who include da Silva himself—support him in overwhelming numbers.

Bolsonaro supporters have been spreading false information about Lula in the lead-up to this year’s election, accusing him of planning to close churches if elected.

In addition, he has been under fire from Bolsonaro’s camp over his remarks that abortion should be a “right” in April. He later changed his mind in response to significant criticism in the South American nation.

Everyone is aware that there was never even a remote threat to churches during my presidency. On the contrary,” Lula wrote in the letter on Wednesday. “My government will not in any way interfere with the freedom of religion.”

Lula also attempted to allay concerns about abortion, which is opposed by more than 70% of Brazilians in the majority of cases.

He said that while he personally opposes abortion, “it is an issue to be resolved by Congress, not the president” and that “to me, life is sacrosanct, the work of

God the creator, and my commitment always has been and will be to defend it.”

Observers are still unsure of Bolsonaro’s willingness to concede defeat.

He has often asserted without providing any supporting proof that Brazil’s electronic voting system is susceptible to fraud, sparking suspicions that he intends to challenge the results in the same way that he has imitated former US President Donald Trump.

Legal authorities have disproved Bolsonaro’s allegations of fraud as unfounded.

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