Flavio Bolsonaro counts on Brazil cowboy vote

Right-wing presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro is drawing visible support from farmers and rodeo-goers at Brazil's Barretos Cowboy Festival ahead of October's elections.

The festival in Barretos, in Sao Paulo state, drew around one million people for its 71st edition. Several farmers and festivalgoers quoted by AFP said they favoured Bolsonaro, the son of former president Jair Bolsonaro, and criticised President Lula over agribusiness policy, taxes, interest rates and public spending.

Cattle rancher Luiz Mario Pereira said Lula “should look at agribusiness differently” and said Jair Bolsonaro had “a more special way of looking at farmers.” Pereira said he was happy to vote for Flavio Bolsonaro because he shared his father's name.

Suelen Carlomagno, a sugarcane farmer near Barretos, said there had been “practically no dialogue” during Lula's four-year term and criticised increased taxes and high interest rates. The Center for Advanced Studies in Applied Economics says agribusiness grew 11.7 percent last year after a 3.2 percent decline in 2024 and contributes one quarter of Brazil's GDP.

Carlos Roberto dos Santos, a rancher and surgeon, said conservative governments give farmers “more leeway” and criticised public spending. The supplied figures say public debt has risen by more than 10 percentage points to almost 82 percent of GDP since 2022.

Some pro-Bolsonaro farmers also downplayed US President Donald Trump's tariffs on Brazilian agricultural products. Former farmer Marcio Braga said Trump had acted against “several countries” to counter Chinese competition, while saying he trusted Flavio Bolsonaro to “reform” Brazil.