Petro congratulates Lula, Bolsonaro worried that “Brazil will follow the path of Colombia and Venezuela”

Colombian President Gustavo Petro congratulated leftist Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on his victory in the first round of elections in Brazil on Sunday, while Brazilian President and presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro expressed concern that Brazil would follow the path of other countries. where the left leads.

Brazilians voted on Sunday to elect the next president of the South American nation, where Lula took advantage of Bolsonaro but there will be a ballot on October 30 because none of them obtained more than 50% of the required valid votes, according to the electoral rule of Brazil.

With 99.18% of the voting machines counted, Lula had 48.24% of the valid votes, compared to 43.36% for Bolsonaro, according to data released by the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) in the Sunday night.

“I congratulate Lula for his victory in the first round. I congratulate the Brazilian people for their enormous electoral participation, ”said Petro, through his Twitter account.

President Bolsonaro said he fears “the changes could be for the worse.”

“My concern is that Brazil follows the path of Argentina, Colombia, Venezuela and Nicaragua,” added the president, referring to the governments of Alberto Fernández, Gustavo Petro and Nicolás Maduro.

Brazil’s presidential elections will be decided in a runoff election on October 30 between the right-wing president and the leftist leader, the national electoral authority said on Sunday.

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