Brazil Presidential candidates engage over violence

BRASILIA, Brazil, May 18 (Reuters) During this week's bloody street battles in Sao Paulo, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and his principal challenger in October's general election, Geraldo Alckmin, blamed each other for the crisis but critics say they have both failed to show strong leadership.

At the height of the violent outbreak, when public transport collapsed and millions of frightened commuters were stranded, neither Lula nor Alckmin projected the image of an able statesman able to steer the nation through difficult times, critics say.

Neither made a public address to reassure city residents or proposed an action plan to combat crime and violence. The two were also absent from the many funerals of police officers and civilians.

''We felt the absence of our leaders during the crisis. We have good managers -- and Alckmin was one -- but we don't have big leaders, statesmen,'' said Jose Roberto Bellintani, superintendent of the business-backed group Sao Paulo Against Violence.

Lula, widely expected to launch his bid for reelection next month, leads over the former Sao Paulo state governor by a wide margin.

The battle between a powerful criminal gang and police killed at least 137 people since Friday. The group led some 70 prison rebellions and attacked 250 police stations, courts and public buses. Brazil's financial capital, with 20 million inhabitants, Sao Paulo at times appeared a ghost town.

Charred buses lined the streets and buildings were riddled with bullet holes.

Political analysts say both candidates initially considered the issue of urban violence too thorny to tackle and were unsure how it would play in opinion polls. ''Crime and violence in Sao Paulo is a political quagmire and neither candidate wanted to stir up mud and filthy himself,'' said Walder de Goes, a Brasilia-based political consultant.

But both sides changed tack at mid-week and went on the offensive. Alckmin said the prison riots were due in part to a lack of federal funding for public security.

Lula blamed the lack of investment in education under previous governments. Tarso Genro, Lula's chief political coordinator, pointed the finger directly at Alckmin, who stepped down as state governor only in late March.

''He should assume the responsibility for what is happening in Sao Paulo,'' Genro said.

The fiery rhetoric could backfire on both candidates, de Goes said, ''if the people of Sao Paulo feel they are running from responsibility.'' With his working-class roots, Lula is still the favorite of Brazil's poor but his standing with other classes has been damaged by a corruption scandal involving his Workers' Party last year.

Alckmin of the Brazil Social Democracy Party (PSDB) is seen as close to the business elite in Latin America's largest country.

Government critics say neither Lula nor Alckmin have done enough to bridge Brazil's huge social chasm with education, jobs and a crack-down on corruption. ''I hope this is a wake up call for politicians to look at the real reasons of violence,'' said Father Jaime Crowe, a Catholic priest in Sao Paulo's infamous, violent Jardim Angela district.

''The people are not going to fall again for fake election promises on violence. They will take to the streets,'' said Crowe, an Irishman who has worked with Brazil's poor for 37 years.

Reuters SK GC0054