International
Meet the feisty woman kingmaker in Brazil’s presidential runoff
AFP | Marcelo Silva De Sousa
A feisty and little-known woman senator has emerged as kingmaker in Brazil’s very close presidential runoff.
Many Brazilians saw Simone Tebet, a lawyer and university professor, for the first time when she took stage the night of August 29 for the campaign’s first televised debate, standing alongside rightwing President Jair Bolsonaro and leftist icon and ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
And in a surprise, Tebet made a strong impression.
When Bolsonaro at one point insulted a woman journalist asking questions at the debate, the senator leapt to her defense, pointing at the president with her index finger and saying in a firm voice: “I am not afraid of him.”
Tebet, 52, finished third in the first round voting with four percent of the votes, far behind Lula, who took 48 percent, and Bolsonaro with 43 percent.
But her share of the pie amounts to 4.9 million votes — and the difference between the two frontrunners was 6.1 million.
Instantly, Tebet became the candidate to woo. And she endorsed Lula.
‘Third option’
Tebet’s candidacy was organized by centrist parties and supported by part of the Brazilian establishment as a way to temper the polarization generated by the far-right president Bolsonaro and the leftist hero of the working class and poor, Lula, of the Workers Party.
Tebet is from the city of Tres Lagoas, which has a population of 125,000, and she was its mayor from 2005 to 2010. It is in the west-central state of Mato Grosso do Sul, where the economy is based on agribusiness.
Tebet is married to a politician from her state and they have two daughters. She is Catholic and describes herself as feminist.
Tebet played a prominent role on a congressional committee that in 2021 investigated the government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic. And while on this panel, she clashed loudly with Bolsonaro allies.
Tebet was also the first woman to preside over the Brazilian senate’s Constitution and Justice Committee, considered the chamber’s most important panel.
But her biggest jump to notoriety came with her presidential candidacy, which was promoted as a third way between the right and left.
Tebet managed “to fill a lagoon that was empty,” said Marco Antonio Teixeira, a professor of political science at the Getulio Vargas Foundation in Sao Paulo.
She succeeded because “she billed herself as an actual third option, strong in her criticisms of Bolsonaro and of the Workers Party in a balanced way, not simply seeking confrontation,” said Teixeira.
In the presidential debates, she challenged Bolsonaro and urged him to show respect for women; the president has a penchant for making remarks seen as sexist.
This helped Tebet grab third place from center-left candidate Ciro Gomes, who polls had predicted would take that spot.
Conservative and close to agribusiness
Up through the midway point of Bolsonaro’s term, Tebet supported his government in 86 percent of the votes taken in the Senate, including one that extended gun-carrying rights to land outside rural properties, according to investigative news outlet Agencia Publica.
Tebet owns three rural estates, one of which sits on land claimed by Indigenous people in Mato Grosso do Sul.
She broke with Bolsonaro after she joined the congressional commission that probed the pandemic, which killed more than 680,000 people in Brazil.
During the campaign for the first round of presidential voting, Tebet promised to bring transparency to huge amounts of money administered by Congress, boost spending on science and technology, and provide scholarships for students at the intermediate level of education to head off school dropouts.
Now, as analysts say Lula has to veer toward the center to win new supporters, Tebet — who has said Brazil is conservative and not ready, say, to legalize abortion — is an important person to have on your side.
Last week, she formally endorsed Lula in the runoff on October 30, while denying that this gesture meant she has given up on creating a third path in Brazilian politics.
Tebet’s party, however, called the Brazilian Democratic Movement, chose to remain neutral in the race between Bolsonaro and Lula.
“What is at stake is bigger than each of us,” she said.
Tebet said she would vote for Lula because of his “commitment to democracy and the constitution,” which she said she does not see in Bolsonaro.
But she criticized Lula, credited with bringing millions of people out of poverty during his rule from 2003 to 2010, for not really “looking in the rear view mirror” and making new proposals for how he would govern if he regains power.
“Tebet has a way of speaking with agribusiness and women that is much more direct than Lula,” said Teixeira.
She can lure for Lula centrist voters tired of the tensions born of Bolsonaro-Lula polarization, he added.
Brazilian press reports have suggested Tebet could become a minister in Lula’s government if he wins. Tebet has denied being interested in such a job.
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(FILES) In this file photo taken on September 30, 2022 Brazilian presidential candidate Simone Tebet (MDB) arrives for a press conference after a presidential debate ahead of the October 2 general election, at the Globo television network studios called Projac in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. - It was the night of August 29, the first televised debate of candidates, when many Brazilians discovered Tebet: a white woman, lawyer and university professor, who would cause a surprise in her first presidential campaign. The senator was third in the first round on October 2, with 4% of the vote, far behind Lula (48%) and Bolsonaro (43%). But he got 4.9 million votes, when the difference between the two arch-rivals was 6.1 million. She thus became the candidate to be courted. And she supported Lula. (Photo by MAURO PIMENTEL / AFP)
International
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Tehran denied that direct talks were taking place, but Trump insisted that discussions were underway and described the situation as a final opportunity for Iran to reach an agreement.
“This is the last chance they have to sign a good document,” Trump told reporters at the White House, adding that the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz could happen “literally tomorrow” Tuesday.
The comments came after another escalation in rhetoric from Washington. Last week, Trump threatened Iran with military strikes before unexpectedly changing course on Sunday and announcing that negotiations with Tehran would resume.
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Earlier, the Iranian official said that Tehran was close to reaching an agreement with Oman, which lies across the Strait of Hormuz, to reopen the crucial waterway that plays a key role in global energy trade.
The maritime route has remained blocked by Iran since the outbreak of hostilities following U.S. and Israeli strikes against the Islamic Republic on February 28.
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International
Lula Launches Re-Election Campaign Amid Rising Tensions With Trump
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is set to be officially nominated for re-election by his Workers’ Party (PT), marking the start of his campaign for a fourth presidential term.
The nomination takes place during the party’s national convention in São Paulo, Brazil’s economic hub, where around 3,000 supporters gathered to back the veteran leftist leader.
“Today I’m here because Lula’s policies changed my life and my family’s. Thanks to him, we finally own a home after eight generations without one,” said Cristiane Rosa Julho, a 51-year-old social worker attending the event dressed in the PT’s signature red.
Seeking the presidency for the seventh time in his political career, Lula is expected to face Senator Flávio Bolsonaro in next year’s election.
The 45-year-old senator is the son of former far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, who has been jailed over his alleged role in an attempted coup following his defeat to Lula in the 2022 election.
The party convention opened with videos highlighting Lula’s social initiatives and speeches by four women praising his leadership, while supporters waved PT flags and held signs reading “We Want Lula as President” and “Brazil Is Not for Sale.”
The campaign begins amid growing tensions with the United States and President Donald Trump, a close ally of the Bolsonaro family who has openly backed several conservative candidates across Latin America.
Last week, Lula warned against foreign interference, declaring, “In Brazil, we do not accept anyone sticking their nose where it doesn’t belong.”
In July, the United States imposed two rounds of tariffs on Brazilian products, accusing the country of unfair trade practices. The measures followed earlier restrictions introduced in 2025, encouraged by Jair Bolsonaro’s son Eduardo Bolsonaro, in response to legal proceedings against the former president.
Lula has vowed to wage what he called a “war of truth against lies” in response to Washington’s pressure and accused Flávio Bolsonaro of undermining Brazil’s interests by allegedly helping the United States damage the country’s economy. The senator has denied the accusations.
The Brazilian president also claims Washington is attempting to influence the country’s political landscape in an effort to prevent his re-election.
International
Truck bomb attack near police station in Colombia leaves 14 injured ahead of presidential inauguration
A truck loaded with explosives exploded on Saturday near a police station in the Colombian city of Cúcuta, close to the Venezuelan border, leaving 14 people injured in an attack that occurred six days before president-elect Abelardo de la Espriella’s inauguration.
The blast took place in the early hours of the morning and was allegedly carried out by members of the National Liberation Army (ELN), who detonated a vehicle packed with explosives. According to the latest report from the Colombian Army, the attack injured 11 police officers and three civilians.
The explosion involved around 15 explosive devices, and two of the wounded officers are in critical condition and “fighting for their lives,” said William Villamizar, governor of Norte de Santander, the region where the attack occurred.
The incident comes amid Colombia’s worst wave of violence in the past decade, with armed groups expanding their presence in several areas of the country.
“I strongly condemn the cowardly terrorist attack carried out in Cúcuta against our National Police. Terrorism will not intimidate Colombia or break the determination of Colombians to live in peace and security,” De la Espriella said in a post on X.
The conservative lawyer, who has been described as a far-right figure, will take office on August 7, replacing Gustavo Petro, Colombia’s first left-wing president. The inauguration ceremony will be held in Cali, the country’s third-largest city and a frequent target of attacks by armed groups.
The United Nations condemned what it described as an “indiscriminate attack” that caused not only injuries but also “fear and distress among the population.”
De la Espriella has repeatedly warned about an alleged plot against his life. Meanwhile, President Gustavo Petro, who is currently visiting Cuba, has not commented on the attack. During his visit, Petro met with Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel to discuss what Havana describes as the United States’ “policy of suffocation” toward the island.
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