Brazil's two leading presidential campaigns took their messages to the streets on Sunday (13), three weeks before the first round of the general elections on October 4. The Workers' Party (PT) of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and the Liberal Party (PL) of Senator Flávio Bolsonaro scheduled rallies in several states on the same day, according to Correio Braziliense. Severe storms in the Southeast disrupted both sides: Lula postponed a rally in Santa Catarina state and Flávio Bolsonaro canceled events in interior São Paulo state, newspaper O Tempo reported.
The PT had called Sunday a "day to mobilize and strengthen Lula's campaign across the country" on its website. Its main rally was on Paulista Avenue in São Paulo, with Fernando Haddad, the party's candidate for state governor, and Vice President Geraldo Alckmin. G1 reported that morning rains thinned the crowd. Lula and Flávio Bolsonaro, son of former president Jair Bolsonaro, lead voter intentions in Datafolha polls released this week in five states.
Haddad used the rally to demand the lifting of every secrecy order in the Banco Master investigation, including the phones of former banker Daniel Vorcaro, the central figure of the scandal.
"If we lift the secrecy on Vorcaro's phones now, I think we will have the chance to clean this country up before the first round is over," Haddad said.
In his view, documents already made public show an "intersection between bolsonarismo and Vorcaro's scheme." Alckmin argued the same: "What society expects, what the people expect, is the lifting of every secrecy order. Much of it has been lifted now. Rigorous investigation and the search for the truth." He also tied the bank to the previous administration: "The bank was created under the Bolsonaro government, Vorcaro became a banker under the Bolsonaro government, and it was under our government that Banco Master was shut down."
Storms and cancellations
On the other side, Flávio Bolsonaro canceled his schedule in Presidente Prudente, in interior São Paulo state, about an hour before his first event. His staff cited "recent developments" and "the heavy rains hitting the region" and denied any link to the ongoing investigations, CNN Brasil reported. Governor Tarcísio de Freitas of the Republicans party, who is running for reelection in São Paulo, also canceled his events and is monitoring the storms from a crisis cabinet. In São Paulo city, the death toll from the collapse of a building under construction on the east side rose to five on Sunday.
The cancellation came after a week of revelations in the Banco Master case, a scandal that has shaken Brazilian politics. According to CNN Brasil, the Federal Police identified at least four meetings between Flávio Bolsonaro and Vorcaro in 2025 and direct conversations about financing Dark Horse, a film about former president Jair Bolsonaro. The Prosecutor General's Office pointed to signs of possible wrongdoing and asked for a review of any link between the senator's legislative work and the bank's interests. Flávio Bolsonaro denies any wrongdoing and says the revelations will have "zero impact" on his candidacy.
The first round is set for October 4, when voters will make six choices on the ballot, including two senators, according to the electoral court. Flávio Bolsonaro's campaign said the canceled events will be rescheduled "at an appropriate time."