San Francisco Frontiers - Crisis-hit Flavio Bolsonaro launches presidential candidacy in Brazil

Far-right firebrand Jair Bolsonaro anointed his eldest son, a senator, as his successor after being sentenced to 27 years in prison for plotting a coup following his loss to leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in Brazil's 2022 election.

At a convention in Sao Paulo, the Liberal Party (PL) will officially name Flavio Bolsonaro, 45, as its candidate to face off against Lula, who is seeking re-election at the age of 80.

Wearing Brazilian national team jerseys, which have become a symbol of the Bolsonaro movement, supporters beat drums and waved flags inside a warehouse next to Sao Paulo's Pacaembu Stadium.

"We would have liked our candidate to be Jair Bolsonaro, but today Flavio is the best choice," Fernando Moeno, a 50-year-old retired military police officer attending the convention, told AFP.

Flavio is promising change: he wants to free Brazil of crime, inflation, high taxes and Lula, who is seeking a fourth term in office.

"We are on a plane without a pilot," he said last week.

The senator was neck-and-neck with Lula in the polls until he was hit by a series of scandals: ties to a disgraced banker, a family feud, and new tariffs imposed by ally US President Donald Trump.

Pollster Datafolha published a survey Friday showing that in a runoff election Lula would win 48 percent of votes to Flavio's 43 percent.

- A wave of scandals -

Flavio's troubles began in May when an audio recording leaked of him asking banker Daniel Vorcaro -- accused in a multi-million dollar fraud case -- to finance a film about his father.

Flavio had denied any contact with Vorcaro and, just hours before the recording was published, told a reporter that the accusation was "a lie." He now maintains their relationship was limited to the movie.

On Thursday, a Supreme Court justice ordered an investigation into the financing of the film.

A second crisis hit Flavio's campaign when his stepmother, Michelle Bolsonaro posted an Instagram video saying he had "disrespected me and mistreated me ... he said I didn't understand anything about politics."

The former first lady is key to the right-wing movement's appeal among Brazil's large female and evangelical electorate.

With divisions growing, Flavio read out a letter on social media from Jair Bolsonaro urging unity -- contravening the terms of his father's house arrest.

A Supreme Court justice then blocked Flavio from visiting his father until after the first round of voting.

In a bid to unite the right before the convention, Flavio this week posted a video apologizing to Michelle, who quickly accepted the gesture of reconciliation.

Flavio has cast himself as the more moderate version of his father, but is a hardliner on crime and this week echoed the older Bolsonaro in raising debunked concerns about Brazil's electronic voting system.

The senator has struggled to seal alliances with Brazil's influential centrist bloc, with key parties announcing they will remain neutral in the October 4 election.

- Tariff troubles -

Flavio Bolsonaro has also faced backlash after Trump's administration imposed two new rounds of tariffs on Brazil this month.

The Bolsonaro family had backed earlier tariffs imposed in retaliation for the trial of the former president, prompting President Lula to accuse them of treason.

T.Martin--SFF