The controversial far-right candidate in Brazil’s presidential election, Jair Bolsonaro, says he will not tone down his rhetoric ahead of the second round.
Mr Bolsonaro won the first round on Sunday by a margin of 17 percentage points but fell short of the 50% of valid votes needed to win outright.
He will face the left-wing Workers’ Party candidate, Fernando Haddad, in the second round on 28 October.
He said he would not turn into a “peace and love” character to win votes.
- Bolsonaro: Trump of the Tropics?
- Haddad: Betting on moderation
- Why Brazilian women are saying #NotHim
In a radio interview the day after winning 46% of the votes, he said high crime rates were the main concern for Brazilians, including women.
In the run-up to the election, women’s groups held mass street protests against Mr Bolsonaro under the slogan #EleNao (NotHim).
In Bolsonaro’s words:
“Safety is our priority! It is urgent! People need jobs, they want education, but it’s no use if they continue to be robbed on the way to their jobs; it’s no use if drug trafficking remains at the doors of schools,” he wrote on Twitter on 11 September.
“Political correctness is a thing of leftist radicals. I am one of the most attacked persons,” he said in an interview with daily Correio Braziliense in June.
“I’d prefer [to see] a son of mine to die in an accident than [to be] a homosexual,” he told Playboy in a 2011 interview.
But he has also gained many supporters through his tough stance on crime and his promise to loosen gun laws should he be elected,
In the interview, he said that record crime rates in Brazil were the main concern for Brazilians, including women. He argued that women’s priorities were to know that their children would be safe if they went out.
He said he would not back away from his views on human rights, gender issues and gun ownership just to attract centrist voters.
He also told listeners that he would privatise state companies and reduce the number of ministries.
Mr Bolsonaro has proven popular with the business community who like his free market policies. The São Paulo stock exchange soared by more than 4% on Monday following his first-round win.