Brazil’s President Lula now supports lowering the age of criminal responsibility from 18 to 16 for heinous crimes.

It reverses a position he and his Workers’ Party have held for years.

He announced it in an interview with TV Globo’s Jornal Nacional, about a week before the runoff.

Lula faces Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, who led the first round by 2.2 million votes, on October 25.

Heinous crimes under Brazilian law include murder, rape, drug trafficking and medicine falsification.

Recent polling puts public support for lowering the age at about 80%.

The Bolsonaro camp has long pushed for 16 in general and 14 for violent crimes.

Rights advocates warn the change could boost gang recruitment in Brazil’s overcrowded prisons.

Read the full article for more details on Lula’s shift on the criminal age.