International

Brazil’s dirty campaign: a disinformation guide

Photo: Andre Borges / AFP

| By AFP |

Brazil’s election campaign has been an orgy of mudslinging, social media attacks and outright lies so outlandish they are sometimes comical.

Here is a look from AFP’s fact-checking team at some of the top disinformation techniques — none of them particularly high-tech — used in the online proxy wars between backers of far-right incumbent Jair Bolsonaro and leftist rival Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva ahead of the country’s presidential runoff on October 30.

Quotes out of context

One of the main methods seen in the social media disinformation campaign is editing context out of video footage to make the candidates appear to say something they haven’t.

For example, a video was widely shared Wednesday by Bolsonaro backers, including influential Evangelical pastor Silas Malafaia, in which Lula says: “I have to lie. Politicians have to lie.”

20260330_renta_mh_728x90

The veteran leftist did utter those words the night before — but was mimicking Bolsonaro when he said it.

“Bozo (his mocking nickname for the incumbent) is a compulsive liar,” Lula, 76, said in a podcast interview. “He literally says, ‘I have to lie.’”

Bolsonaro, 67, has also been targeted with the tactic.

In one clip, he appears to say he will name scandal-plagued ex-president Fernando Collor to his cabinet to “confiscate retirees’ pensions.”

In reality, Bolsonaro was talking about a rumor swirling online.

20260330_renta_mh_728x90

Pink menace

Bolsonaro warns ex-president Lula (2003-2010) wants to “impose communism” in Brazil, and often points to crises in other Latin American countries as examples of the dangers of left-wing rule.

Amid signs of a new “pink tide” emerging in the region — with leftists now in power in Argentina, Chile and Colombia, among others — the disinformation campaign has cast a wide muckraking net.

One viral post accuses Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s leftist government of “authorizing pedophilia,” based on a measure that legalized marriage for minors older than 14.

But the measure was adopted in 2021, under conservative ex-president Ivan Duque.

“Starving locals attack poultry and pig farmers in Argentina,” warns another apocalyptic message, accompanying a video of pillaging that allegedly occurred under leftist President Alberto Fernandez.

20260330_renta_mh_728x90

In reality, the images came from the Colombian town of Puerto Tejada during protests last year against Duque’s government.

Videos from violent protests in Chile in 2019 under conservative ex-president Sebastian Pinera have likewise been misrepresented as happening under current President Gabriel Boric, who took office last March.

Fake polls

Fake opinion polls showing one candidate with a large lead are another common tactic.

Sometimes the supposed polls are completely fabricated. Other posts use editing software to change the figures in TV news reports.

In fact, most real polls give Lula a small lead over Bolsonaro.

20260330_renta_mh_728x90

‘Proof’ of fraud

Multiple claims of fraud went viral after the first-round election on October 2, in which Lula took 48 percent of the vote to 43 percent for Bolsonaro.

Lula supposedly won more votes than there were inhabitants in a list of cities that circulated widely. But the figures cited are incorrect, and some of the cities don’t even exist.

Other viral posts allege the vote count on election night followed an algorithm in which Lula gained one percentage point and Bolsonaro lost one-half for every 12 percent of polling stations that reported results.

But those numbers do not match actual figures.

Fake articles

Other posts copy the look of established media to spread false news reports.

20260330_renta_mh_728x90

The G1 news site operated by Globo, Brazil’s biggest media group, is a frequent target.

One screen capture of a supposed G1 article has Lula saying he will confiscate Brazilians’ firearms if elected.

Another quotes him as saying, “Even God can’t stop me from winning this election.”

International

Mexico leads global cases of enforced disappearances, UN report finds

Mexico accounts for the highest number of urgent actions related to enforced disappearances worldwide, according to the latest report by the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances.

The report, released by I(dh)eas, indicates that Mexico has accumulated 819 cases between 2012 and February 2026, representing 38% of the global total.

In the past five months alone, 40 new urgent requests have been recorded — more than one-third of all such actions worldwide during that period.

The report warns that this trend reflects a structural problem, as the urgent action mechanism — originally intended as an exceptional measure — has become routine in Mexico.

Although the Mexican state formally complies with response deadlines, the Committee identified significant shortcomings in the implementation of these measures. These include the lack of comprehensive search plans, delays in key investigative procedures such as video surveillance and phone data analysis, and insufficient inquiries into possible links involving state agents.

20260330_renta_mh_728x90

The report also highlights inadequate protection for relatives and individuals involved in search efforts, including cases of reprisals.

Among the most serious incidents documented is the disappearance of a father who had denounced alleged involvement of authorities in his son’s case in the state of Guanajuato.

The accumulation of cases could lead to the application of Article 34 of the Convention, which would allow for the launch of an international investigation into systematic enforced disappearances.

Geographically, the state of Chiapas accounts for 30% of the new urgent actions, many of them linked to collective disappearances of migrants.

20260330_renta_mh_728x90

International

Le pape Léon XIV appelle à relancer le dialogue pour une paix au Moyen-Orient

Le pape Léon XIV s’est entretenu par téléphone ce vendredi avec le président d’Israël, Isaac Herzog, soulignant la « nécessité de rouvrir » les canaux de dialogue afin de parvenir à une « paix juste » au Moyen-Orient.

Selon un communiqué du Vatican, les deux dirigeants ont insisté sur l’importance de relancer tous les mécanismes diplomatiques pour mettre fin au conflit en cours et œuvrer en faveur d’une paix durable dans la région.

Le communiqué précise également que les discussions ont porté sur la protection des populations civiles et sur le respect du droit international et humanitaire.

Cet échange intervient dans le contexte de la Semaine sainte, cinq jours après un incident à Jérusalem, où la police israélienne avait empêché le cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa de célébrer la messe du Dimanche des Rameaux au Saint-Sépulcre.

Le lendemain, le secrétaire d’État du Vatican, Pietro Parolin, avait convoqué l’ambassadeur israélien auprès du Saint-Siège, Yaron Sideman, pour exprimer le mécontentement du Vatican face à cet incident qualifié de « regrettable ».

20260330_renta_mh_728x90

Cette situation avait suscité une vive réaction internationale, poussant le Premier ministre israélien Benjamin Netanyahu à intervenir pour assurer que le cardinal pourrait accéder au lieu saint.

De son côté, Herzog a confirmé l’échange sur son compte X, indiquant que les discussions ont également porté sur des sujets régionaux, notamment la guerre en Iran et la situation au Liban.

Le pape, d’origine américaine, participe actuellement à sa première Semaine sainte depuis son élection et doit présider ce soir le chemin de croix au Vatican.

International

Devotees in Philippines mark Holy Week with extreme rituals despite rising costs

Despite rising fuel prices driven by the conflict in the Middle East, thousands of devotees in Philippines took part this year in one of the country’s most intense Holy Week traditions.

In the city of San Fernando, located in Pampanga province, dozens of bare-chested penitents with covered faces walked barefoot along dusty streets, whipping their backs with bamboo lashes as part of a ritual that can draw up to 12,000 local and foreign visitors.

Journalists from Agence France-Presse reported seeing participants piercing their skin with glass shards attached to small wooden paddles to ensure bleeding during the ceremony — an act believed to atone for sins and seek divine intervention.

“I do this to pray for the healing of my seven-month-old baby, who is suffering from pneumonia,” said a devotee identified as John David at the start of the procession.

The 49-year-old participant explained that the practice runs in his family. “My grandfather started this, then my father, and now it’s my turn. I have witnessed healing miracles over the years through this act of faith,” he said.

20260330_renta_mh_728x90

Many attendees traveled for hours to witness the climax of the ritual, in which some penitents allow nails, measuring about seven centimeters, to be driven into their hands before being raised on crosses in a reenactment of crucifixion.