If opposition candidate Aecio Neves wins Brazil’s October 26 runoff election — a possibility that virtually no pollster is ruling out — South America’s biggest country would “de-politicize” its foreign policy and end 12 years of preferential ties with Venezuela, Argentina and other leftist governments, top aides to Neves say.
Neves, a former state governor and candidate for the pro-business Social Democratic Party, was the big surprise in Sunday’s first-round vote. He shot up from third place in the polls to a second-place finish in Sunday’s election, qualifying him to challenge President Dilma Rousseff of the leftist Workers Party. She received 42 per cent of the vote.
The second round is likely to be decided by supporters of defeated opposition candidate Marina Silva, who received 21 per cent. Most political analysts agree that