But the Central American country has found itself at the center of Brazil’s election debate as far-right incumbent Jair Bolsonaro seeks to weaponize Daniel Ortega’s authoritarian crackdown on the Catholic church to attack his leftist challenger, former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Bolsonaro has repeatedly invoked the attack on his cleric Ortega ahead of Brazil’s Oct. 2 vote, hoping to convince God-fearing voters that Lula’s return to power would lead to a similar prosecution. On Tuesday Bolsonaro sent his message to the UN general assembly, saying: “I want to announce that Brazil will open its doors to receive Catholic priests and nuns who have suffered persecution under the dictatorial regime of Nicaragua.” Experts describe the Bolsonaros’ claim that Lula – a moderate president who served two terms from 2003 to 2010 and was on good terms with both Catholic and Protestant leaders – would close churches and clerical prisons. “There is just zero evidence in his administration that he would ever behave like dictators in Nicaragua and Venezuela. I just find that a ridiculous argument,” said Steven Levitsky, a Harvard University expert on Latin America and author of How Democracies Die. “Do these guys really believe that, having lived in Brazil for eight years under Lula, that Lula would suddenly turn Brazil into Nicaragua?” Levitsky wondered. “Maybe, but I don’t think they’re that stupid. I think they’re just saying that because they want to legitimize or justify authoritarian behavior.” As dubious as the claim is, it’s one Bolsonaro and his allies continue to sell, largely in the hope of winning over evangelical voters, who represent nearly a third of Brazil’s 156 million electorate. In a recent television interview, Bolsonaro appeared with the word Nicaragua written on the palm of his hand. His political sons, Eduardo and Flávio Bolsonaro, have warned millions of social media followers about the perceived threat of a Nicaragua-style future under Lula. “If Jair Bolsonaro leaves power, Brazil will not become Argentina or Venezuela – it will go straight to Nicaragua,” wrote congressman Eduardo Bolsonaro last month. “Don’t forget, he is a friend of Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua,” Rio senator Flavio Bolsonaro wrote of Lula. “Check out Google to see what it did to priests and nuns.” On Tuesday, Silas Malafaya, the radical televangelist who Bolsonaro took to London for the Queen’s funeral, shared his ally’s offer to house Nicaragua’s embattled clerics on Twitter, claiming Nicaragua was “supported by Lula.” Jair Bolsonaro, left, appears alongside evangelical leader Silas Malafaia in Rio de Janeiro last week. Photo: Ricardo Moraes/Reuters Nicaragua’s arming is a repeat of Bolsonaro’s 2018 campaign, when he used the collapse of Nicolas Maduro’s Venezuela to make false claims about what could happen if Lula’s Workers’ Party (PT) wins power. Lula has sought to counter Bolsonaro’s attacks by distancing Ortega, a rebel hero-turned-authoritarian who has ruled continuously since 2007 and secured a fourth consecutive term last year in an election that opponents called rigged. Ortega’s re-election followed a six-month crackdown on the opposition in Nicaragua, which detained or forced into exile all of the former rebel’s main rivals. “It’s been 10 years since I last had contact with Nicaragua. I don’t know what’s going on in Nicaragua. But I’ve heard that things are not going well there,” Lula said last year, urging Ortega not to “abandon democracy.” Lula has faced unsubstantiated claims that he would attack Christianity since the first of his six presidential campaigns in 1989. More than three decades later, such bullying tactics have been charged by social media. Together, Bolsonaro and his three sons have nearly 16 million followers on Twitter and 20 million on Facebook. So far the terror appears to be failing, however, with Lula launching a charm offensive to placate Brazilian Christians. “I don’t think anyone has ever cared as much about securing the freedom to open churches and practice their faith as I have,” Lula told a gathering of evangelical supporters earlier this month. The latest polls show that support for Lula is actually increasing among Catholic voters, rising from 52% to 53% this week according to the Ipec poll. Evangelicals still prefer Bolsonaro, with 48% supporting his presidential candidacy. But Lula’s share of the evangelical vote this week rose from 31% to 32%. Overall, the leftist boasts a 16-point lead over Bolsonaro with less than two weeks until the election.
