Near-Fatal Stabbing of Presidential Front-Runner Stuns Brazil
- Ex-army captain Bolsonaro leads polls ahead of October voting
- Son says Bolsonaro leaving campaign trail for at least 2 weeks
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Brazilian presidential elections were jolted Thursday when the leading candidate, the controversial former Army officer Jair Bolsonaro, was stabbed during a street rally in the country’s heartland.
The attack threw what had already been a raucous race into an even greater state of turmoil. By Thursday evening, the right-wing lawmaker’s condition had stabilized and Brazilian traders, who are partial to the candidate’s free-market stance, had placed bets the incident would fuel outpourings of sympathy and help propel him to the presidency.