Brazil’s presidential election crusade officially began on Tuesday with former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva leading all polls opposing current President Jair Bolsonaro amid growing fears of political violence and threats to democracy.
Lula, whose two-term presidency stretched from 2003 to 2010, has already become accustomed to dressing in a bulletproof vest for public appearances. He was scheduled to speak at an engine plant Tuesday morning, but federal police asked him to cancel the occasion for protection reasons, according to his campaign. Instead, the leftist ran his seventh presidential bid at a Volkswagen plant in Sao Bernardo do Campo, a production in the city outside of Sao Paulo, where he rose to fame as a union leader in the 1970s.
Bolsonaro reviewed the post in the city of Juiz de Fora where he was stabbed by a mentally ill man in the 2018 election campaign. He arrived on a motorcycle surrounded by security guards and dressed in a bulletproof vest, unlike in 2018 when he dived unprotected into the crowd.
Creomar de Souza, founder of political threat consultancy Dharma Politics, said Lula’s scale in a car factory is typical of Brazilian political symbolism, evoking nostalgia for his first presidential election in 1989 and alluding to his legacy. De Souza added that he expected the candidates to attack each other more than they provide plans for voters.
“I need this election to end as soon as possible with Lula’s victory, so that there are fewer threats of violence and more discussions about the future,” Vanderlei Claudio, a metallurgist, said at Lula’s event.
Bolsonaro’s return to the time of his stabbing is an attempt to invoke the same foreign profile that allowed the seven-term lawmaker to win in 2018, said Mauricio Santoro, a political science professor at Rio de Janeiro State University.
“For Bolsonaro, this is the symbol of himself as a rebellious and anti-establishment candidate, and the attack on his life is at the center of this narrative,” Santoro said. “For him and his followers, the guy who stabbed him is not a ‘lone wolf’ but a component of a conspiracy of the political elite opposed to Bolsonaro.
Latin America’s biggest race for democracy is a clash of the titans, with all the other candidates far behind. Both have been gathering supporters publicly for months, through the electoral government they have not been allowed to solicit votes or run ads. So far, no debate between Lula and Bolsonaro is planned.
“You should not move when you return to this city,” Bolsonaro told the crowd in Juiz de Fora, where he registered other people before allowing them to cross steel barriers to touch the president’s stage. “The memory I bring with me is that of a rebirth. My life was saved by our creator.
After his speech, Bolsonaro made a quick exit on the platform of a truck, waving to the crowd while closely surrounded by security personnel.
Despite the attempt on Bolsonaro’s life in 2018, fears have recently grown that his supporters may have a stake in the attacks. Bolsonaro supporters surrounded Lula’s car to hurl insults earlier this year, and in July, one of them killed a local official from Lula’s party. Workers’ Party in the city of Foz do Iguaçu.
At a rally in June, a drone doused a crowd of Lula supporters with a foul liquid and, last month, a guy detonated a homemade explosive containing feces. The attackers in either case were Bolsonaro supporters, according to social media posts reviewed by The Associated Press.
“Lula canceled his first opportunity because of security risks, and this kind of thing has invaded all sides. I don’t think Bolsonaro is at the same risk, but he stabbed last time,” said Carlos Melo, a political science professor at Insper University. in Sao Paulo. ” These terrible events are now part of the elections in Brazil, and that matters. “
Bolsonaro is a staunch supporter of guns and has eased restrictions, allowing his supporters to make an inventory of weapons and ammunition. At the launch of his candidacy on July 24, he asked his followers to swear that they would give their lives for freedom, and continually characterized the race as a war between intelligent and evil. His wife, Michelle, said on the same occasion that the presidential palace engaged with demons before her husband took office.
In Saao Bernardo do Campo, Lula denounced the Bolsonaro government’s disorders over the COVID-19 pandemic – which, according to a Senate investigation, contributed to the death toll of the world moment – and then said: “If there is anyone possessed by the devil, this is Bolsonaro.
Bolsonaro’s supporters cite Lula’s 580-day imprisonment after he was convicted of corruption and money laundering. These convictions ousted Lula from the 2018 electoral race and paved the way for Bolsonaro. The trial had been biased and in collusion with prosecutors.
Bolsonaro, a former army captain who is trailing in the polls, worries he could reject the effects if he loses the October vote. The far-right leader expressed unfounded doubts about the national e-voting formula used since 1996 and added with foreign diplomats.
His insistence provoked the reaction last week of a lot of corporations and more than a million Brazilians who signed a couple of letters not easy to respect the democratic establishments of the country.
When Bolsonaro’s candidacy was confirmed, he called on his supporters to flood the streets for Independence Day celebrations on Sept. 7. On that date last year, he told tens of thousands of supporters that only God can remove him from power. Analysts have continually expressed fear that he is laying the groundwork to stick to former President Trump’s leadership and try to cling to power.
Human Rights Watch said Monday that the crusade “will likely be a critical check on democracy and the rule of law in the country and in Latin America. “
On Tuesday night, Lula and Bolsonaro met in the capital Brasilia for the inauguration of the new president of Brazil’s electoral tribunal, Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes. He will oversee the October vote and also chair an investigation into the fake news that has affected many of the president’s allies.
Moraes is also a supporter of the country’s electronic voting system.
“We are the global democracy that counts and presents electoral effects on the same day, with agility, security, competence and transparency. It is a source of national pride,” Moraes said to applause to several candidates and government. Bolsonaro, on the contrary, stood still.
This story gave the impression in the Los Angeles Times.
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