Brazil’s Bolsonaro, Lula head into first debate a week before vote

By Brendan O Boyle BRASILIA, Oct 18 (Reuters) Brazilian supporters held rallies for presidential candidates on Sunday as leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and right-wing Senator Flavio Bolsonaro prepared for ​their first televised debate with just one week left ‌in the campaign. Pro-Bolsonaro crowds wearing Brazil s national colors of yellow, green and blue packed Paulista Avenue in Sao Paulo s financial center, and the candidate appeared on a float ahead of giving an address. Lula supporters wearing red, symbolic of his ‌Workers ​Party, filled Brasilia s plaza of government ⁠buildings and students backing the ⁠president protested against Bolsonaro in Rio de Janeiro. Polls show a close race for the October 25 runoff, with Bolsonaro holding a slight advantage after finishing nearly 2 percentage points ahead of ​Lula in the election s first round on October 4. Both candidates hope to engage the 33 million voters who stayed home in ⁠the election s first round, equal to ⁠abou