Bolsonaro's son pushes ahead with Brazil presidential bid

Flavio Bolsonaro is forging ahead with his campaign for Brazil's presidency after a chaotic week marked by fresh legal trouble and an uneasy truce with his stepmother.

Bolsonaro's Liberal Party is set to nominate the senator on Saturday at a national convention in Sao Paulo, with allies including Argentina's Javier Milei expected to attend.

The son of former President Jair Bolsonaro formally enters the race trailing President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in polls and trying to move past a family feud with former First Lady Michelle Bolsonaro that exploded in late June.


His campaign has never fully recovered from the impact of audio messages leaked in May that showed him soliciting funds for a film about his father from Daniel Vorcaro, the man at the center of a massive bank fraud probe. On Thursday, a Supreme Court justice authorized police to investigate the matter, just a day after Bolsonaro faced separate allegations involving Banco Master.

Bolsonaro, who has denied any wrongdoing, has yet to pick a running mate or secure alliances with influential centrist parties.

It's all fueled a sense of turmoil around the campaign that has left some investors and analysts thinking that Brazil's most powerful conservative family is about to gift-wrap a victory for Lula.

The news generated discussions among money managers at an annual investment event hosted by XP Inc. in Sao Paulo. Two bank executives said they thought the race was essentially over unless Bolsonaro drops out. But one described that scenario as wishful thinking as long as Jair Bolsonaro, who is on house arrest for plotting a coup after losing to Lula in 2022, sticks behind his son.