Brazilian presidential candidate assaulted

Rio de Janeiro, Agency
Opposition presidential candidate Jose Serra received a blow to the head Wednesday during a scuffle between his supporters and partisans of Brazil's governing Workers Party.

Serra was hit in the head by an object someone threw as he was campaigning in Rio de Janeiro's Campo Grande neighborhood.

He retired to a campaign vehicle for a few minutes before resuming the walk, accompanied by the Green Party's Fernando Gabeira, who endorsed Serra shortly after the first round of presidential voting on Oct. 3.

"That is the style of the PT (Workers Party), of the Nazi shock troops, of the fascist movements," Serra said of the incident.

Though doctors at a Rio clinic who examined him said Serra was not injured, the candidate of the centrist PSDB subsequently canceled the rest of his schedule for Wednesday to undergo an X-ray and get some rest.

Serra and his party were "surprised by militants from the opposing campaign who attempted to impede" the candidate's stroll through Campo Grande, the PSDB said in a statement.

The candidate was struck by "a heavy object," according to the statement.

"Our candidacy reaffirms its position in favor of peace, tolerance and a government of national unity, as it understands that that is the only path for progress in Brazil," the PSDB communique said.

The PT's Dilma Rousseff is favored to defeat Serra in the Oct. 31 presidential runoff.

Rousseff is the anointed successor of popular President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, due to step down in January after two four-year terms.