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More violence feared as Brazil braces for far-right presidency

Jair Bolsonaro’s supporters
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After a presidential campaign that has seen political violence overshadow policy debate, many Brazilians fear attacks will continue after the likely election on Sunday of tough-talking far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro.

Bolsonaro’s supporters in recent weeks have threatened to harm Supreme Court justices and physically attacked journalists and opposition voters.

There has also been violence attributed to backers of Bolsonaro’s opponent, Fernando Haddad of the Workers Party (PT), but to a far lesser extent.

Brazil’s tense political climate has been compared by some to divisions in the United States, where several high-profile opponents of President Donald Trump received pipe bombs in the mail this week.

But the situation in Brazil is far more perilous, analysts say, because it already suffers from extreme violence, often without consequence for perpetrators.

Nearly 64 000 murders were registered in 2017 but less than 10% of homicide cases result in charges, according to government data.

Bolsonaro, who maintains a double-digit lead in all polls, himself, suffered a near-fatal stabbing during a campaign rally in September.

He is still recovering, but the episode only reinforced his aggressive rhetoric, combining verbal attacks on political foes with vows to violently combat crime and pursues graft cases against opponents.

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