21-08-2014: Latin American Weekly Report

Marina Silva has officially become the presidential candidate of the Partido Socialista Brasileiro (PSB), replacing Eduardo Campos, who was killed in a plane crash last week. The party’s vice-presidential candidate is Beto Albuquerque, the leader of the PSB in congress. Campos was running a distant third to President Dilma Rousseff, of the Partido dos Trabalhadores (PT) and Aécio Neves, of the Partido da Social Democracia Brasileira (PSDB); but a Datafolha opinion poll published over the weekend showed Silva leapfrogging Neves into second place in the first round, and tying a potential second round with Rousseff. Clearly Campos’ death has had a major impact on voters’ intentions. The question now being asked by all of the participants is whether this support is sustainable.