BRASÍLIA — President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and rival Flavio Bolsonaro are pulling no punches in a last-ditch effort to win voters ahead of tomorrow’s election in Brazil, where the US suspended consular services yesterday over security concerns.

US President Donald Trump said he was “very closely” watching the nail-biter poll, which comes after a string of recent right-wing victories across Latin America.

Washington suspended consular services in Brasilia over “security concerns” and Australia closed its embassy for the same reason. Neither gave details.

Police said in a statement they had executed two search and seizure warrants to investigate possible threats to US diplomatic facilities but “no evidence has been found to corroborate the initially reported risks.”

US pressure has loomed large over an insult-driven, scandal-littered campaign that has done little to mend Brazil’s political fragmentation.

Edinho Silva, president of Lula’s Workers’ Party (PT), told journalists that the US closing its consulates “makes absolutely no sense. It is one of the ways Trump has to vie for Brazilian public opinion.”

Veteran leftist Lula, 80, is in a dead heat with the son of far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro in polls that predict an October 25 runoff, which will take place if no candidate gets more than half the first-round vote.

“The race is tied but not at a standstill,” Felipe Nunes, director of the Quaest polling institute, told AFP.

Horns honked raucously at a Lula rally in Rio de Janeiro attended by thousands yesterday.

“The left has put itself in a position of defending the poorest, the weakest, the minorities,” said Alex de Oliveira Rangel, a 55-year-old evangelical pastor.

“As Christians, we have to defend the values that are right for society and defend democracy, which is under serious threat from the right,” he told AFP.

Flavio Bolsonaro meanwhile called for a “mega-motorcade” of motorcycles at his final campaign rally in Sao Paulo state today.