Fernando Haddad, a left-wing presidential candidate, said on Tuesday that he would fight to the end to prevent "fascism settling in Brazil." He fears an arms race in South America, should Jair Bolsonaro be elected this Saturday.

Left-wing presidential candidate Fernando Haddad said on Tuesday that he would fight to the limit to prevent "fascism settling in Brazil," a five-day poll, including far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro is the long-time favorite.

The Workers' Party (PT) candidate also warned of the risk of an "arms race" in South America, should Jair Bolsonaro be elected and decide to join forces with the United States to overthrow the government of Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela.

"I will fight until Saturday in the streets for what I think is the best for Brazil," said the candidate at a press conference in Rio de Janeiro. "The other project (his opponent, ed) is really scary and knows that the entourage of Bolsonaro does not trust what could happen," said the former mayor of Sao Paulo.

"For democracy"

"We will fight for democracy until the end," said Haddad, which polls give 41% of votes against 59% to Jair Bolsonaro Sunday. "The strength of democracy put me in the second round and the strength of the Democrats can prevent the installation of fascism in Brazil," added the foal of former President Lula.

But the PT candidate has so far received only the "critical support" of Ciro Gomes' center-left PDT, who came third in the first round with 12.5% ​​of the vote, and the ecologist Marina Silva. " I am preoccupied. There could be an arms race in the region, " said Haddad, noting that Brazil has not had an armed conflict with its neighbors for a century and a half.

"Brazil does not have an imperialist vision. He always had an attitude of cooperation with his neighbors. We should think about how to get Venezuela out of the crisis rather than choosing a side to overthrow governments, " he said.

Many critics

Fernando Haddad has been the target of much criticism because of the support of the Workers Party (PT) to Venezuelan left-wing governments and he has not distinguished himself from an increasingly isolated Maduro administration.

In his campaign, Jair Bolsonaro often uses the image of a Venezuela having sunk in the political and economic crisis as a foil.