Overview
- Senator Flavio Bolsonaro declared he will carry his father’s political project, and Liberal Party president Valdemar Costa Neto confirmed the endorsement as the party’s pick for 2026.
- Flavio’s office told the Associated Press he will challenge President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and said he visited his father in prison this week.
- Brazilian markets fell on the news, with the real weakening roughly 2–3% against the dollar and the Bovespa index dropping about 3–4%, reflecting fears of a harder-line campaign.
- Jair Bolsonaro remains barred from office until 2030 and is serving a 27-year sentence for plotting a coup, while pursuing appeals from custody.
- The move dents expectations that the right would rally behind São Paulo Governor Tarcisio de Freitas, and analysts say it could complicate efforts to court centrist allies as polls currently show Lula ahead in hypothetical matchups.