Brasilia, October 8 (RHC)-- Far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro won the first round of Brazil´s presidential elections with 46.3 percent of the vote, but failed to reach the 50 percent necessary for getting elected.
Fernando Haddad of the Workers Party (PT), who got 28.9 percent is now in second place and will face Bolsonaro in the second round on October 28th.
Balsonaro is a far-right former Army captain who has praised the country's past military dictatorship and has insulted women and gay people, as well as the country's Black and indigenous populations.
According to official estimates, during the polls there was an abstention rate of more than 20 percent, while GloboNews reported that 39 percent of people abstained.
In his first public statement after the vote, Fernando Haddad thanked the party and voters, but warned that Brazil could face another episode of dictatorship, encouraging people to get out the vote in the second round.
Meanwhile, shortly after the results were announced, candidates who were running from other progressive parties, like Ciro Gomes, from the Democratic Labor Party (PDT), and, Guilherme Boulos from the Socialism and Liberty Party (PSOL) voiced their rejection of Bolsonaro for his authoritarian, sexist, racist, homophobic and fascist comments and behavior.