It should have been a happy occasion as Marcelo Arruda, a member of Brazil's left-wing Worker's Party, celebrated his 50th birthday with a politically-themed party over the weekend.

Instead, deadly gunfire erupted at the gathering in the southern Brazilian city of Foz de Iguaçu, claiming Arruda's life in an apparent clash over politics that has drawn the nation's attention.

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The bloodshed underlines escalating tensions in Brazil as this fall's presidential elections approach, when former leftist president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will face off against incumbent rightwing president Jair Bolsonaro.

It should have been a happy occasion as Marcelo Arruda, a member of Brazil's left-wing Worker's Party, celebrated his 50th birthday with a politically-themed party over the weekend.

Instead, deadly gunfire erupted at the gathering in the southern Brazilian city of Foz de Iguaçu, claiming Arruda's life in an apparent clash over politics that has drawn the nation's attention.

*

The bloodshed underlines escalating tensions in Brazil as this fall's presidential elections approach, when former leftist president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will face off against incumbent rightwing president Jair Bolsonaro.