Sawt Falasteen - Thousands rally for Lula and Bolsonaro on eve of tight Brazil vote

Thousands of supporters took to the streets as the incumbent and his rival wrap up a bitter campaign that has left Latin America's biggest nation more polarized than ever.

Lula, who turns 81 next week, jumped up and down on the back of a campaign truck and waved a massive Brazilian flag as he made his way through an enormous crowd of supporters wearing the red of his Worker's Party (PT).

"The people must choose: either someone who kisses the national flag, or someone who kisses the American flag," Lula told the crowd, his trademark rasp more pronounced than ever.

Sunday's runoff will determine whether Brazil remains one of the few leftist nations in the region or joins a regional swing to the right championed by US President Donald Trump, a Bolsonaro ally.

Bolsonaro, son of far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro, nabbed a shock first-round lead with 47 percent of the vote over Lula's 45 percent.

"I'm super confident. I'll admit that the first-round result was an unpleasant surprise, but the mobilization of people in the streets is what makes the difference," said Patricia Vasconcelos dos Santos Guedes, 39, a bank employee attending the Copacabana rally.

The political left jolted awake after the result, flooding the streets with huge protests and launching an intense digital campaign that hopes to carry Lula to a fourth, non-consecutive term.

"It's been a state of constant anxiety, day after day. We're fighting, trying to flip votes, battling against fascism, and standing up for democracy," said Nicolas da Silva Alcantara Azevedo, 25, who works in the hotel industry.

A Datalfolha institute poll this week showed the candidates tied with 50 percent of voting intentions.

- Bikers for Bolsonaro -

Lula will head to the megalopolis Sao Paulo for a second rally later in the day.

Awaiting Bolsonaro in Belo Horizonte, a city in the key bellwether state of Minas Gerais, a large crowd including hundreds of bikers dressed in the canary-yellow national football t-shirt.

Ebert Dorigo, a business owner, accused Lula's PT of seeking to make people dependent on state welfare.

"The values we uphold are nation and family. Our country is divided today because, due to welfare-based policies, some people ... haven't grasped that improvement and achievement come only through hard work," he told AFP.

"Enough is enough. We've had 16 years of this administration, and it's clear it didn't work. It's time for a change," said Joao Paulo, 37, referring roughly to the total period the PT has governed Brazil.

After the rally, Bolsonaro will head to Rio de Janeiro, where he will visit the house where his father recovered after being stabbed during his ultimately successful presidential campaign in 2018.

- 'The lesser evil' -

In their final debate on Friday night, the rivals struck a calmer tone than their first showdown, which descended into insults and was empty of policy proposals.

Lula attacked the senator's lack of experience while Bolsonaro accused the president of leaving behind a "broken country."

"He doesn't know what hunger is," Brazil's first working-class president said of Bolsonaro, who asked the incumbent: "Why are things so expensive?"

Bolsonaro has styled himself as a moderate version of his firebrand father, who is serving 27 years for attempting a coup after his electoral loss to Lula in 2022.

He has promised to resolve Brazil's crime woes, create 500,000 more spots in prisons and slash government spending.

The acrimonious campaign -- largely based on fear-mongering -- has left many choosing in disgust.

"If there were any other candidate, that would be a better option. But we're stuck choosing between the worst, the horrible, and the lesser evil," said event organizer Gabriela Ribeiro Viana, 29.

M.AbuKhalil--SF-PST