Milei calls Lula a "leftist thief" four days before a Brazilian runoff that polls show within two points

Argentine President Javier Milei on Tuesday accused Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of running a "dirty campaign." He called Lula a "leftist thief" and said he hoped Lula would not "steal" Sunday's runoff against Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, MercoPress reported. Brazil's foreign ministry, known as Itamaraty, issued a formal note of repudiation of the insults and of Milei's suggestion of fraud, the state news agency Agência Brasil reported. Brasília called the remarks an "unacceptable" attempt to interfere, the Buenos Aires Times reported.

The race is close. Flávio Bolsonaro led the first round with 47% to Lula's 45%. A polling average puts him at 51.1% of valid votes against Lula's 48.9%, the Rio Times reported. Individual polls range from a 51-49 Lula lead to a 52-48 Bolsonaro lead. Market pricing shows investors favor one outcome: the Ibovespa closed at a record 209,066.90 on October 9, about 8.8% above its last close before the first round, according to the Rio Times.

Economics columnist Bernardo Guimarães argues that the two candidates' platforms converge on one point that should worry bondholders. In a Globo interview last week, Lula promised "the biggest credit policy the country has ever known." Flávio Bolsonaro and his adviser Daniella Marques also propose expanding credit through the state bank Caixa, Guimarães wrote in Folha. He concludes that both plans lead to higher interest rates. Subsidized state-bank lending weakens the effect of the central bank's benchmark Selic rate, so the central bank must hold it higher to slow the rest of the economy.