BRAZIL, Oct 20: A presidential runoff between Brazil's incumbent leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and his right-wing challenger Flavio Bolsonaro will decide the fate of Latin America's largest democracy on Sunday.
Lula, on the cusp of 81 and seeking a fourth non-consecutive term, is facing stiff competition from the 45-year-old senator, who is the son of jailed ex-leader Jair Bolsonaro.
Flavio Bolsonaro defied expectations by nabbing 47 percent of the first-round vote over Lula's 45 percent in early October.
The runoff victor will either preserve the vast country of 214 million people as a left-wing stronghold in Latin America, or usher it into the ranks of right-wing administrations loyal to US President Donald Trump.
Trump has not yet explicitly endorsed Flavio Bolsonaro, but the White House has loomed large over a bitterly divisive election campaign.
Lula's political party has accused US tech giant Meta of election "interference" by allegedly restricting the incumbent's WhatsApp and Instagram content.
The company has denied doing anything to favor either side, but previously said that some of Lula's campaign ads had been mistakenly deactivated due to technical errors not isolated to Brazil.
That controversy is unfolding amid a campaign that has largely played out on social media, a realm typically dominated by the political right.
But Brazilian leftists are upping their game, and Lula has begun appealing to voters via front-facing despite not owning his own cell phone.
- 'The right to dream' -
A recent Datafolha institute poll gave Bolsonaro 51 percent of voting intentions compared with 49 percent for Lula, placing the pair in a technical tie given the margin of error.
Polls had underestimated the scale of support for the right-wing candidate ahead of the first round, however.
"Brazil is going to retire you," Flavio Bolsonaro hurled at his rival during a heated televised debate riddled with low blows on Sunday night.
He pledged to restore "hope and the right to dream" during a rally in the northern Amazonian state of Para on Monday.
The senator has campaigned on promises to improve purchasing power and tackle insecurity -- two huge concerns among Brazil's roughly 160 million registered voters.
"Today, the situation is difficult, with the government raising taxes on those who work to feed the welfare dependency of low-income people," civil servant Geneci Bispo, 58, told AFP at a Sao Paulo rally on Sunday.
Flavio Bolsonaro has also railed against corruption on the campaign trail, honing in on Lula's previous conviction which was later annulled.
The senator himself is under investigation for corruption over the funding of a biopic about his father, partly financed by a banker embroiled in one of the biggest financial scandals in Brazilian history.
- Democracy a 'fragile thing' -
The shock result of the first round appears to have invigorated the left, with Lula's camp staging massive rallies ever since.
"I want to thank the Brazilian people who took to the streets to ensure the continuity of democracy in this country," the president said.
Jair Bolsonaro is serving a 27-year prison sentence under house arrest for attempting a coup following his electoral defeat to Lula in 2022.
Flavio Bolsonaro has sworn to liberate his father if elected.
"Democracy is a very precious and fragile thing," said marketing professional Camila Hassen, 35, at a leftist protest in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday.
Lula has passed a series of social measures at the eleventh hour in a bid to turn things around for his camp.
His administration last month announced an increase to Bolsa Familia, Lula's flagship allowance for poor families, which came into effect this week.
The veteran politician also scored an important win by getting parliamentary approval of a reduction in working hours, an extremely popular measure that even Flavio Bolsonaro supported.