TV Globo canceled its presidential debate on October 1 after court rulings changed the event’s format, leaving voters without the scheduled broadcast before Brazil’s October 4 first-round election. TSE minister Estela Aranha and STF minister Gilmar Mendes prohibited an empty podium for Lula, ordered Renan Santos’s inclusion and barred directed questions.
Lula had already withdrawn. Senator Flávio Bolsonaro then pulled out, saying the TSE had imposed censorship on the event and urging voters to mobilise. Globo said the judicial intervention had created “legal uncertainty.” The episode came amid a history of suspicion about judicial power following the 2018 and 2022 elections.
Court Orders and the Debate
The rulings changed the conditions for candidates and the broadcaster. The base account says the court barred directed questions, required Renan Santos’s inclusion and prohibited an empty podium for Lula. It doesn’t describe the reasoning behind each order.
Flávio Bolsonaro called the intervention censorship. Globo cited “legal uncertainty.” Lula chose the Flow Podcast instead of TV Globo’s final debate. O Dia reported that the interview had drawn 1.6 million views on the show’s channel.
Lula called Flávio Bolsonaro a “vira-lata,” translated as “mongrel” or “stray dog.” “He has no past, no present, no future. He never worked in his life,” Lula said of his rival, according to O Dia. He also said Flávio wasn’t qualified “to be even a building manager.” Brasil de Fato reported Lula saying, “My adversary is a vira-lata. He sent his brother to the US to speak ill of Brazil.” The brother is former congressman Eduardo Bolsonaro.
Foreign Funding Complaint
On October 1, the Office of the Attorney General of the Union filed a criminal complaint, asking the Federal Police and the Prosecutor General’s Office to investigate a reported US$1 million U.S. grant for groups opposed to Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court. The Guardian reported the grant, titled “Countering Lawfare and Censorship in Brazil,” on September 30. It would fund groups opposing what it calls judicial overreach and censorship.
The AGU said the evidence raised the possibility that U.S. public funds could go to groups seeking “to delegitimise the Supreme Federal Court,” allegedly “under the alleged pretext of fighting censorship and judicial abuses.” It called the matter “especially serious in view of the Brazilian electoral process under way” and cited external pressure on Brazilian institutions, including sanctions on national authorities.
The complaint doesn’t prove that money reached anyone in Brazil. G1 said the report named no Brazilian beneficiary and didn’t confirm that any funds had been transferred. The State Department declined to comment on individual grants, but said programmes remained in “active deliberation” and would undergo “a standard and rigorous vetting process.” The award appeared among 43 Human Rights and Democracy Fund grants worth a combined US$176.9 million; the Brazil project represented well under 1% of that package.
Jorge Messias, head of the AGU, called the report “an important alert for Brazilian sovereignty” in a post on X. He wrote that foreign political interests shouldn’t interfere in Brazilian institutions or influence “choices that belong exclusively to the Brazilian people.” The AGU represents the government. Prosecutor General Paulo Gonet leads the independent public prosecution service and decides whether to open a criminal inquiry or shelve the complaint. Criticism of Brazil’s Supreme Court is legal; the AGU’s concern was foreign funding of that campaign.
Election, Economy and Outside Statements
U.S. President Donald Trump said on October 1 that he was following Brazil’s election “very closely,” without naming a candidate or declaring support. Brazil’s intelligence agency, ABIN, had flagged a risk of U.S. influence or interference in the 2026 election. The main contenders are President Lula and Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, described in the report as a Trump ally. The vote remained scheduled for October 4, whether or not prosecutors opened an inquiry.
Argentina’s President Javier Milei told Le Point he hoped “my friend Flávio Bolsonaro” would win. He said he wanted Flávio to carry out “the liberal clean-up the country needs.” Milei again called Lula “a thief” and said Lula left prison “because of an administrative flaw.” Brazil’s Supreme Court annulled Lula’s corruption convictions in 2021, ruling that the trial court in Curitiba had no jurisdiction over the cases. Milei’s endorsement carried no formal weight in Brazil’s vote, and the report said it didn’t mean a break between Brazil and Argentina.
Lula said he expected to win in the first round, but Datafolha’s latest poll put him at 45% of valid votes and Flávio Bolsonaro at 40%. More than half of valid votes are required for an outright victory. If no candidate reached that threshold, a runoff was scheduled for October 25. Datafolha also found that 82% of voters called their choice final, while 45% rejected each front-runner.
Brazil’s S&P Global manufacturing PMI fell to 44.8 from 46.3, its weakest reading since April 2023. The Ibovespa rose 0.46% in the last session, while the real faced pressure from a firmer U.S. dollar.