SAO PAULO: A Brazilian presidential candidate on Thursday accused his far-right adversary of illegal campaign practices for allegedly allowing friendly businessmen to secretly pay to spread slanderous messages.
The accusations by left-leaning Fernando Haddad follow a report published by the newspaper Folha de S.Paulo saying businessmen linked to Congressman Jair Bolsonaro allegedly bankrolled the spread of fake news on the WhatsApp messaging service to benefit his candidacy. The article said a blast message campaign was planned for the week before the Oct. 28 runoff.
In a series of tweets, Bolsonaro, who is the front-runner in opinion polls, said any support of businessmen was voluntary. Gustavo Bebbiano, the chairman of Bolsonaro’s Social Liberal Party, denied receiving illegal donations.
“Every donation made until this day, no matter if it is our party or our candidate’s campaign, comes from resources donated to our platform, accordingly with legislation,” Bebbiano said
Haddad, who was hand-picked by jailed former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, said he has leads for the federal police to follow, but did not reveal names. He later asked Brazil’s top court to start an investigation, and he said he might take the case to the Organization of American States.
“There has been a criminal organization of businessmen which used illegal campaign financing to promote this candidacy and tamper with the election in the first round (on Oct. 7). And they want to do it again in the runoff,” Haddad said. “We estimate that hundreds of thousands of messages, all fake, were sent to voters to suggest they voted for my rival.”
Paying for the blast-messaging, if true, could be a violation of Brazil’s campaign finance laws since companies are barred from giving money to candidates, electoral lawyer Erick Pereira said.
“But there is still need for robust evidence, which is not here at this moment,” Pereira added.
The Folha article mentioned businessman Luciano Hang, who owns the Havan department store, as one of the contributors. It also mentioned a handful of marketing companies that allegedly received money to do the blast messaging.
In an emailed statement, the Havan chain said the newspaper “published fake news with a clear ideological slant,” adding it would sue over the article.
At Yacows, an Internet marketing service mentioned in the article, a person answered the phone and said there would be no comment because the company did not engage in spreading messages.
The other companies mentioned in the article didn’t answer their phones Thursday afternoon.
In his tweet, Bolsonaro said Haddad’s campaign was trying to change the subject.
“The Workers’ Party is not being affected by fake news, it is affected by the truth,” Bolsonaro wrote. “They stole the population’s money, were arrested, confronted the judiciary, disrespected families and made the country sink into violence and chaos.”
On Thursday, a Datafolha poll said Bolsonaro keeps a comfortable advantage over Haddad, with 59 percent support against his adversary’s 41 percent. The polling firm said it interviewed 9,137 voters Wednesday and Thursday and the poll had a margin of error of two percentage points.
Brazil front-runner accused of illegal campaign practices
Brazil front-runner accused of illegal campaign practices
- Businessmen linked to Bolsonaro allegedly bankrolled the spread of fake news on the WhatsApp messaging service to benefit his candidacy
- Bolsonaro said any support of businessmen was voluntary
Two high-speed trains derail in Spain, police sources say 21 people killed
- The accident happened near Adamuz, in Cordoba province. So far, 21 people have been confirmed dead by police
MADRID: A high-speed train derailed and smashed into another oncoming train in southern Spain on Sunday, pushing the second train off the tracks in a collision that police sources confirmed to Reuters had killed at least 21 people.
The accident happened near Adamuz, in Cordoba province. So far, 21 people have been confirmed dead by police, with state broadcaster Television Espanola adding that 100 people had been injured, 25 seriously. The driver of one of the trains, which was traveling from Madrid to Huelva, was among those who died, the TV station added.
“The Iryo 6189 Malaga — (to Madrid) train has derailed from the track at Adamuz, crashing onto the adjacent track. The (Madrid) to Huelva train which was traveling on the adjacent track has also derailed,” said Adif, which runs the rail network, in a social media post.
Adif said the accident happened at 6:40 p.m. (1740 GMT), about 10 minutes after the Iryo train left Cordoba heading toward Madrid.
Iryo is a private rail operator, majority-owned by Italian state-controlled railway group Ferrovie dello Stato. The train involved was a Freccia 1000 train which was traveling between Malaga and Madrid, a spokesperson for Ferrovie dello Stato said.
The company said in a statement that it deeply regretted what had happened and had activated all emergency protocols to work closely with the relevant authorities to manage the situation.
The second train was operated by Renfe, which also did not respond to a request for comment.
Adif has suspended all rail services between Madrid and Andalusia.
HORRIFIC SCENE
The Iryo train had more than 300 passengers on board, while the Renfe train had around 100.
Paco Carmona, Cordoba fire chief, told TVE the first train heading to Madrid from Malaga had been evacuated.
The other train’s carriages were badly damaged, he said, with twisted metal and seats. “There are still people trapped. We don’t know how many people have died and the operation is concentrating on getting people out of areas which are very narrow,” he said. “We have to remove the bodies to reach anyone who is still alive. It is proving to be a complicated task.”
Transport Minister Oscar Puente said he was following events from rail operator Adif’s headquarters in Madrid.
“The latest information is very serious,” he posted on X. “The impact was terrible, causing the first two carriages of the Renfe train to be thrown off the track. The number of victims cannot be confirmed at this time. The most important thing now is to help the victims.”
The mayor of Adamuz, Rafael Moreno, told El Pais newspaper that he had been among the first to arrive at the scene of the accident alongside the local police and saw what he believed to be a badly lacerated body several meters from the accident site.
“The scene is horrific,” he said. “I don’t think they were on the same track, but it’s not clear. Now the mayors and residents of the area are focused on helping the passengers.”
CALLS FOR MEDICS
Images on local television showed a reception center set up for passengers in the town of Adamuz, population 5,000, with locals coming and going with food and blankets amid nighttime temperatures of around 42 degrees Fahrenheit (6 degrees Celsius).
A woman named Carmen posted on X that she had been on board the Iryo train to Madrid. “Ten minutes after departing (from Cordoba) the train started to shake a lot, and it derailed from coach 6 behind us. The lights went out.”
Footage posted by another Iryo train passenger, also on X, showed an Iryo staffer in a fluorescent jacket instructing passengers to remain in their seats in the darkened carriages, and those with first aid training to keep watch over fellow passengers. He also urged people to maintain mobile phone batteries to be able to use their torches when they disembarked.
Salvador Jimenez, a journalist for RTVE who was on board the Iryo train, shared images showing the nose of the rear carriage of the train lying on its side, with evacuated passengers sitting on the side of the carriage facing upwards.
Jimenez told TVE by phone from beside the stricken trains that passengers had used emergency hammers to smash the windows and climb out, and they had seen two people taken out of the overturned carriages on stretchers.
“There’s a certain uncertainty about when we’ll get to Madrid, where we’ll spend the night, we’ve had no message from the train company yet,” he said. “It’s very cold but here we are.”
