Brazil’s far-right presidential candidate has survived life-saving surgery after being stabbed by a ‘socialist’ attacker who said he was acting on ‘a mission from God’ during a rally.

Shocking footage showed the moment election hopeful Jair Bolsonaro was knifed in the stomach in the midst of a crowd in Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais, south east Brazil.

The 63-year-old has since been transferred to intensive care after undergoing a procedure for serious internal injuries and is now stable and out of ‘acute and immediate danger’.

A 40-year-old suspect, identified by police as Adélio Bispo de Oliveira, has been arrested over the attack with police saying he appeared to be mentally disturbed and had claimed he was ‘on a mission from God’.

Oliveira was said to be a member of the left-leaning PSOL party from 2007 to 2014. On his Facebook page, the attacker recently posted messages criticizing Bolsonaro and supporting the socialist government of President Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela. – READ MORE

Jittery Venezuelans on Friday rushed to shops and lined up at gas stations on concerns that a monetary overhaul to lop off five zeros from prices in response to hyperinflation could wreak financial havoc and make basic commerce impossible.

Shoppers sought to ensure their homes were fully stocked with essentials such as food and dry goods and their tanks full before the measure decreed by President Nicolas Maduro takes effect on Monday.

Inflation hit 82,700 percent in July, according to the opposition-run congress, as the country’s socialist economic model continued to unravel, meaning purchases of basic items such as a bar of soap or a kilo of tomatoes require piles of cash that is often difficult to obtain.

“I came to buy vegetables, but I’m leaving because I’m not going to wait in this line,” said Alicia Ramirez, 38, a business administrator, leaving a supermarket in the western city of Maracaibo. “People are going crazy.” – READ MORE