International

‘Make it stop!’ Brazilians fed up with long, dirty election campaign

Photo: Douglas Magno / AFP

| By AFP | Anna Pelegri, Ramon Sahmkow, with Lujan Scarpinelli in Sao Paulo and Louis Genot in Rio de Janeiro |

Marcelo feels it is making him sick. Alexia has stopped chatting to her neighbors and Luciene is desperate for it to end: Brazil’s lengthy and nasty election duel has left many voters fed up.

Latin America’s largest nation is four days from deciding whether to re-elect far-right President Jair Bolsonaro or leftist former leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who is leading a very tight race.

The two men, both tarnished but with fervent supporters, are locked in a fierce battle for the four percent of voters who plan to spoil their vote and the one percent who remain undecided.

The candidates have flooded the media and social media with their presence, and the election has dominated conversation for months.

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“I am getting sick because there is a lot of disagreement,” said 51-year-old Marcelo Brandao Viana, a Bolsonaro supporter who laments a campaign “overloaded” with “fake news” and attacks between the rival parties.

“I am living this 24 hours a day, and it is horrible,” the bank receptionist told AFP. Nevertheless, he cannot resist looking at his WhatsApp groups during his lunch break outside a mall in the capital Brasilia.

Meanwhile, on Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro, 65-year-old Jose Guilherme Araujo sits on a beach chair in a tight, bright green swimsuit bearing the Brazilian flag as he tries to escape the electoral noise.

“I feel exhausted. I am fed up,” the lawyer told AFP, adding he plans to spoil his ballot.

“The main television channels are only talking about the election. It is horrible. I try to watch cable to escape the subject.”

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Don’t talk about politics

A final showdown between Bolsonaro and Lula had been on the cards since last year when the leftist former president had longstanding corruption charges overturned for procedural reasons, and was freed from prison, without being exonerated.

Many Brazilians feel the election campaign began then, long before voting season, especially because both candidates draw strong measures of adoration and hatred.

In Sao Paulo, Alexia Ebert put her apartment building WhatsApp group on mute after it became an endless thread of political information and disinformation.

“I couldn’t take it anymore,” said the 22-year-old student.

Some, like Aline Tescer, a 35-year-old from Sao Paulo, said that any policy proposals for the next four years are conspicuous by their absence.

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“I see myself the same as in the last election. It is always the same things, the same accusations, and I feel I have no choice in who to vote for.”

Luciene Soares, a businesswoman from Brasilia, feels “disappointed” by the “disrespect” instigated by Bolsonaro.

“People are afraid. I prefer not to say who I am voting for because one is afraid of people’s reactions. I don’t talk about politics because it creates problems,” said the 48-year-old.

“Among friends and family, we say: ‘God! Make it stop.’”

Anesthetised electorate

This fatigue has not shown up in weekly election polls, but experts have picked it up on the streets and online, in this country which has 171.5 million users (80 percent of the population) on social media, according to a study carried out by the Hootsuite and We Are Social agencies.

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The constant bombardment of information “ends up anaesthetizing the electorate” and “tiring them out”, said Amaro Grassi, a sociologist with the Getulio Vargas thinktank.

“The permanent presence of campaign content is not new in this election, but has become much more accentuated,” he added.

Grassi remarks that most Brazilians just want to get back to their normal lives and “turn the page” on the bruising campaign.

“Today, politics has even become a topic of conversation on gossip sites,” said Sao Paulo resident Iamylle Kauane, on a visit to Rio.

This 21-year-old social assistant is waiting for the elections to end “to return to normalcy.”

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Nevertheless, some are indefatigable.

“I don’t feel tired,” said Leandro Albino Oliveira, 36, selling hats on a Rio beach.

“We will not rest until our president is re-elected.”

They have been an advocate for the rights of non-binary people since high school, and paid for a qualification in social work by selling sex.

Today, Cienfuegos is a senior figure at the Organizando Trans Diversidades (Organizing Trans Diversities) advocacy group.

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Over the past decade, Chile has been moving away from the conservatism inherited from the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990) and the influence of the Catholic Church.

Still, last year, 1,114 complaints of discrimination against LGBTQ+ persons were registered in Chile — 127 from transgender people — according to the Movilh gender activist group.

In 2012, Congress passed the Anti-Discrimination Act, and three years later legalized same-sex civil unions.

In 2018, a law was passed that allows for a sex change from the age of 14, and last year, Chile approved gay marriage and adoption.

In July, an appeals court in Santiago finally recognized Cienfuegos’ non-binary gender.

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But the fight is not over.

Chile still does not legally recognize genders other than male or female and anyone else who would want an “X” on their ID will likely face a legal battle similar to Cienfuegos’.

“The non-binary identity card is a milestone among a range of milestones for the advancement of fundamental rights,” Cienfuegos said.

“But conservatism is about enduring daily discrimination against… sexual diversity,” they added.

In July last year, Chile’s neighbor Argentina became the first country in Latin America to allow a gender other than male or female to be listed on a person’s identity document, following in the footsteps of Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States among other countries.

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International

Two killed in shooting at restaurant near Frankfurt Airport

Two people were shot dead early Tuesday at a restaurant in Raunheim, near Frankfurt Airport, according to local police.

Preliminary findings indicate that an armed individual entered the establishment at around 03:45 local time (02:45 GMT) and opened fire on the victims, who died at the scene from their injuries.

The suspect fled and remains at large, while the motive behind the shooting is still unclear, German media reported. Authorities have launched a large-scale search operation.

International

U.S. counterterrorism chief resigns over opposition to war in Iran

Joe Kent, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, announced Tuesday that he has resigned from his post, citing his opposition to the ongoing war in Iran.

In a post on X, Kent said he could not, “in good conscience,” support the conflict, arguing that Iran did not pose an imminent threat to the United States. He also claimed that the war was driven by pressure from Israel and its lobbying influence in Washington.

In a resignation letter addressed to Donald Trump, Kent alleged that at the start of the current administration, senior Israeli officials and influential figures in U.S. media carried out a disinformation campaign that undermined the “America First” platform and fostered pro-war sentiment aimed at triggering a conflict with Iran.

Kent further stated that he could not support sending a new generation of Americans to “fight and die in a war that provides no benefit to the American people and does not justify the cost in American lives.”

Since the United States and Israel launched attacks against Iran on February 28, at least 13 U.S. service members have been killed, while 10 others have been seriously wounded and around 200 have sustained minor injuries, according to a report published by The Wall Street Journal.

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International

German president warns Iran war could spread and disrupt Strait of Hormuz

The president of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, warned Monday that the war involving Iran could expand and further disrupt shipping through the strategic Strait of Hormuz. He urged a swift end to hostilities between Iran, United States and Israel.

Speaking in Panama City during a joint appearance with Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino, Steinmeier said available information suggests Iran has significant capacity to disrupt maritime traffic through the key oil route.

“Iran has considerable potential to interfere with shipping through the Strait of Hormuz,” Steinmeier said through an interpreter. “We should therefore reach an end to the hostilities as soon as possible and call on all parties involved to make that happen.”

The remarks came during Steinmeier’s visit to Panama, the first by a German president to the Central American nation.

The German leader described the possibility of the conflict spreading as “very dangerous,” saying recent developments indicate that such a scenario cannot be ruled out.

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Over the weekend, U.S. President Donald Trump urged allied nations to help ensure safe passage for ships through the Strait of Hormuz after Iran moved to block the waterway in response to U.S. strikes. However, several allies—particularly in Europe—have shown little support for the proposal.

“Some are very enthusiastic, others are not, and some are countries we have helped for many years,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “We have protected them from terrible external threats, and they’re not that enthusiastic. And the level of enthusiasm is important to me.”

Meanwhile, Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s top diplomat, said the Strait of Hormuz falls “outside NATO’s scope” and stressed that “the war involving Iran is not Europe’s war.”