Two Futures Face Off in Brazil

Voters in Brazil on Sunday will choose between two larger-than-life, populist candidates in a presidential race that is widely seen as the nation’s — and Latin America’s — most important election in decades.

Who are the candidates, and why is the future of Brazilian democracy also on the ballot?

Guest: Jack Nicas, the Brazil bureau chief for The New York Times.

Background reading:

• The contest — a matchup between Brazil’s two biggest political heavyweights — could swing either way and promises to prolong what has already been a bruising battle that has polarized the nation and tested the strength of its democracy.
• For the past decade, Brazil has lurched from one crisis to the next. Brazilians will decide between two men who are deeply tied to its tumultuous past.

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