On October 7, thousands of people marched through central Rio de Janeiro in a student-led protest against presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro and the growing influence of the far right in Brazil.
The demonstration came just days after far-right Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, won the most votes in the first round of the presidential election.
According to published results, Flavio Bolsonaro took 47 percent of the vote, ahead of his nearest rival, leftist incumbent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, with 45 percent. Because neither candidate crossed the 50 percent threshold, they will face off in a runoff on October 25.
The result has raised fears that Brazil could become the latest Latin American country to see its presidency shift from the left to the right.
Protesters carried banners reading "Never Bolsonaro again" and "Not the father, not the son." Others raised slogans including "Never dictatorship" and "Bolsonaro out."
"I am here because I believe in democracy. Because I am afraid," said Alice Carneiro, 25, an administrative worker in the maritime transport industry. She said that under a far-right government she fears retaliation targeting her wife, who is transgender.
Former President Jair Bolsonaro led the country from 2019 to 2023. His single term was marked by a series of controversies tied to far-right policies.
He has voiced support for Brazil's past military dictatorship, an era in which hundreds of people deemed dissenters were disappeared and killed. He also spread baseless claims about the integrity of Brazil's voting system, leading to a court ruling barring him from holding office for eight years.
The former president is currently serving a 27-year sentence after being convicted of plotting a failed bid to overturn the 2022 election. After Lula's inauguration in 2023, Bolsonaro supporters stormed government buildings in the capital, in what was seen as an attempt to provoke a military uprising.
Critics have described Jair Bolsonaro's actions as a threat to Brazilian democracy.
Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, however, has received his father's backing and supports amnesty for the former president — a prospect that has stirred concern among the protesters.
"I find the rise of the far right and Bolsonarism in Brazil very, very sad," said Emmanuel Araujo, 19, who is studying for university entrance exams.
"Lula may not be my preferred candidate," Araujo added, "but between this barbarism, we have to choose between someone we can still keep criticizing and someone who could take away our right to speak."
