By Paul Kiernan
BELO HORIZONTE, Brazil--Brazilian presidential candidate Aécio
Neves cast his ballot at a voting station in his hometown Sunday
morning, and delivered a message of "cautious" confidence and hope
that he will emerge victorious when election results are released
later in the day.
As one of the closest electoral races in Brazilian history comes
to a close, the candidate declared that his first "mission," if
elected, will be to reunite a country that has been deeply divided
by a polarizing campaign between Mr. Neves and incumbent President
Dilma Rousseff.
"I'm very confident," Mr. Neves told reporters in an affluent
neighborhood of Belo Horizonte after voting. "Today is a historic
moment in national politics, and I have the great expectation that
tonight I'll be speaking to you in a different condition from this
one."
Mr. Neves also didn't pass up the opportunity to take a few
final swipes at Ms. Rousseff.
"If I win the elections, the great mission I'll have will be
exactly one of unification of the country," said Mr. Neves,
standing alongside his wife. "And we're going to do that by
demonstrating that the accusations made by the incumbent's team
were nothing more than terrorism to keep themselves in power."
Workers' Party President Rui Falcao, speaking on the sidelines
of an event in São Paulo, said the polarization will pass--thanks
to his party's policies.
"The best way to unify Brazil is with our policy, which focus in
the social inclusion. This electoral process is very tight and with
a lot of gossip and tension. This division is punctual and with
Dilma's election and her social inclusion policy the country will
became unify again," he said.
Heading into election day, Mr. Neves and Ms. Rousseff were
locked in a statistical, according to a poll by Datafolha, with the
incumbent holding a 52% to 48% lead. Opinion surveys in previous
days showed the president with a bigger lead.
Mr. Neves vowed to maintain social programs that Ms. Rousseff's
Workers' Party has vastly expanded during its 12 years in power,
earning it the trust and support of poorer Brazilians. The
president's campaign has repeatedly suggested that Mr. Neves, a
center-right senator who touts market-friendly economic policies,
would slash welfare and hurt low-income families.
Mr. Neves called Ms. Rousseff's campaign the "most sordid"
Brazil has ever seen, and said it was a "sad page" in the country's
history.
Ms. Rousseff, speaking to reporters before casting her own vote
in the southern Brazilian city of Porto Alegre, acknowledged that
the race had its ups and downs.
"I think it had lamentable moments, with use of inappropriate
treatment, and I believe that was rejected by the population," Ms.
Rousseff said of the campaign. "But I think it also had
opportunities to confront opinions and engage in healthy
debate."
Mr. Neves was also asked about the hospitalization Saturday of
Alberto Youssef, a suspect in a corruption scandal at state-run
energy giant Petrobras who has entered a witness agreement with
police and has accused several high-ranking Workers' Party
officials--including Ms. Rousseff--of involvement or complicity.
The news has sparked a wave of conspiracy theories.
"We have to hope it was something natural," Mr. Neves said. "I
hope he gets well so he can tell Brazilians, all the way to the
end, everything he knows about this shameful corruption scheme that
has acted continuously and was almost institutionalized at
Petrobras."
Write to Paul Kiernan at paul.kiernan@wsj.com
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