Brazil election: Cury backs Flavio Bolsonaro

Augusto Cury, the third-place candidate in Brazil's presidential election, has backed right-wing candidate Flavio Bolsonaro before his runoff against President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Cury said Thursday that his support was “not a blank check”. He won nearly 3% of the vote in Sunday's first round, compared with 47% for Bolsonaro and 45% for Lula.

Bolsonaro, 45, is the eldest son of far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro, who is under house arrest for plotting a coup after losing Brazil's last election in 2022.

Before Cury's announcement, Bolsonaro was leading in polls on Thursday. The Datafolha institute put him at 52%, compared with 48% for Lula.

Lula, 81, downplayed the polling as he sought a fourth term. “I don't assess polls, I don't work like that. I work knowing that I need to have more votes than Flavio to win the election. I have 17 days to do that,” he said Thursday.

Bolsonaro is trying to build support in the final stretch of the campaign, while Lula has been strengthening his presence on social media. Thousands of people demonstrated Thursday in Sao Paulo and other cities against the return of the far right to power in Brazil, a day after a similar march in Rio de Janeiro.

Renan Santos, the fourth most popular candidate with 2.6 million votes, has refused to support either leading candidate.