Brazil Presidential Election Tightens, 28% of Voters Cite Public Safety as Top Priority

Episode 468 <Correspondent Report: The World Now>

The one who catches criminals becomes the President of Brazil? 121 citizens dead due to clashes between police and gang members... Lula vs. Bolsonaro clash

"All I need is drugs" Drugs sweeping through Pakistan, including 14-year-old addicts... Production team dispatched

Broadcast: Saturday, October 3, 2026, at 9:30 PM KBS 1TV

Brazil divided ahead of the Lula VS Flávio Bolsonaro presidential election

The Brazilian presidential election is just around the corner. In opinion polls, the current president Lula da Silva and Senator Flávio Bolsonaro are in a tight race. President Lula is challenging for his fourth term in this election. Opposing him, Flávio Bolsonaro is the son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, who was sentenced to 27 years for conspiring to commit a coup. Much attention is focused on the next president of Brazil.

What has emerged as a major issue in this Brazilian presidential election is none other than public safety. According to a poll by the polling agency Quaest last month, 28% of Brazilians cited violence, such as crime and drug trafficking, as a major issue. This is a higher response rate than corruption (22%) and economic issues (19%). Last October, a police operation targeting the large criminal organization CV took place in the slums of Rio de Janeiro. During this time, police and gang members engaged in a firefight for 17 hours, and residents had to hide in their homes as schools closed and major roads were blocked. Ultimately, at least 121 people died as a result.

Lula and Flávio have both presented pledges to strengthen public safety. Flávio criticized that "President Lula has an excessively lenient attitude toward criminals" and proposed joining the 'Shield of the Americas' as a pledge. The Shield of the Americas is a security cooperation body formed by the Trump administration with Latin American countries, where participating nations define criminal organizations as terrorist groups and engage in intelligence sharing and joint investigations with the United States.

On the 22nd, President Trump strongly criticized drug cartels at the United Nations General Assembly and announced that, along with the participating countries of the Shield of the Americas, sanctions would be imposed on a total of 24 criminal organizations. Among them were two Brazilian criminal organizations. On the other hand, President Lula protested, saying, "We are no one's backyard," and stated he would not outsource the right to protect the borders and the people.

Instead, he publicly pointed out that foreign interference is being witnessed in the Brazilian presidential election, stating, "Some are abusing freedom by colluding with overseas powers." This is interpreted as a remark targeting candidate Flávio, who is effectively continuing pro-American moves. The Lula campaign has also used election advertisements to define Flávio as 'Trump's candidate' and claims that the United States is intervening in the election to colonize Brazil, causing the dispute surrounding the suspicion of the Trump administration's interference in the Brazilian election to intensify.

In this week's <Correspondent Report: The World Now>, we examine the current situation of the approaching Brazilian presidential election and the controversy over U.S. election interference.

Spreading drugs, the collapsing daily life of Pakistan

Methamphetamine, known as the 'white terror.' Consuming it provides extreme energy and happiness, but it is highly addictive and long-term use can cause cardiovascular disease and psychiatric symptoms such as paranoia and hallucinations. Recently in Pakistan, the use and trafficking of methamphetamine have increased rapidly, threatening public health.

In fact, while 175kg of methamphetamine was seized during the year 2024, it is known that 404kg was seized in just five months the following year, 2025. Last July, as much as 200kg of methamphetamine was seized during an operation conducted by the Anti-Narcotics Force Pakistan at the port of Karachi. The production team visited Karachi, Pakistan, to see what is happening in Pakistan.

In Pakistan, methamphetamine is called 'Ice.' The methamphetamine mainly traded in Pakistan is in the form of translucent crystals, and it was given this name because it looks like pieces of ice. Obtaining it is not difficult. If you move slightly away from the downtown area of Karachi, you can obtain ice on the streets even in broad daylight, and drug addicts can be easily seen in every alley.

Asma, a drug addict met by the production team in an alley, said, "I don't even need food; I can live with just ice." Choduri, who worked as a fisherman his whole life and first encountered ice two years ago. The house the production team visited was empty without any household goods. He sold all his belongings to obtain drugs.

Eventually, even his family left him. All that remained were two pieces of clothing hanging on the wall and lighters and matches used when using ice. The problem is that the age of falling into drug addiction is getting younger. The production team also witnessed a 14-year-old boy with a youthful face using drugs in an alley with older men.

In this week's <Correspondent Report: The World Now>, we report on the reality of the drug problem in Pakistan and the limits of the response to it.

Episode 468 of <Correspondent Report: The World Now> will feature announcer Yoon Soo-young, Professor Kim Jae-cheon (Sogang University), Director Oh Geon-young (Shinhan Bank), and Professor Yoon Seok-jun (Sungkonghoe University), and will be broadcast live on KBS 1TV on October 3 (Sat) at 9:30 PM.

(Photo provided = KBS 1TV 'Correspondent Report: The World Now')

◆ At a Glance

· Publishing Institution: KBS

· Category: Correspondent Report: The World Now

· Distribution: October 2, 14:28

Source: KBS Press Release

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