A follower of Bolsonaro kills a supporter of Lula, a sign of the climate of electoral tension in Brazil

A follower of the Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro killed stabs to a partisan of former leftist president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silvainformed the authorities.

This is the most recent case of political violence before the next elections.

The incident occurred on Thursday in the state of Mato Grosso, in central-western Brazil, after tempers flared during a discussion about supporting the two candidates. Bolsonaro trails Lula in the polls in an election that reflects intense political polarization.

According to the police report of the incident, Rafael Silva de Oliveira24 years old, I killed Benedito Cardoso dos Santos, 42, with a knife. The suspect was taken to the police station, where he confessed and was charged.

Speaking to the press on Friday in Rio de Janeiro, Lula commented on the stabbing, saying there was a “climate of hatred in the electoral process Which is completely out of the ordinary.”

In a statement, Juanita Goebertus Estrada, Americas director at Human Rights Watch, said that “all candidates should strongly condemn” the murder of Cardoso dos Santos, adding that “Brazilians deserve peaceful elections and should be able to participate in debates politicians without fear of violence or reprisals for their opinions.

The president’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A similar incident occurred in July when a local official from Lula’s opposition Workers’ Party was shot dead by a federal prison guard who was yelling his support for Bolsonaro.

On Friday morning, a supporter of Bolsonaro was injured in the head. He would have been attacked by followers of the Workers’ Party who were waiting for Lula to arrive at an event with evangelicals in the city of Sao Goncalo, in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

Bolsonaro, who has long criticized Lula and his leftist allies, has floated the idea of ​​accepting no electoral defeat, citing unfounded claims of electoral fraud and problems with Brazil’s respected electronic voting system.