Northeastern Brazil is a magnet for politicians seeking election because it has a large population, lacks infrastructure and has extreme levels of poverty.
But locals say that the politicians are not coming to help - they are coming to buy votes where they are cheapest and keeping people poor, illiterate and desperate makes them easier to manipulate.
Brazil is suffering from a severe recession, but for many in the slums, the poverty and lack of basic services have lasted for generations.
Al Jazeera's Lucia Newman reports from the state of Alagoas.