The president of Brazil's Superior Electoral Court (TSE), Justice Kassio Nunes Marques, on Friday (Sept 4) authorized national radio and television networks to carry an address by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva marking September 7, Brazil's Independence Day. The message airs on Sunday (Sept 6) and runs 3 minutes and 43 seconds. The ruling comes in an election year, with Lula running for reelection.
According to G1, Nunes Marques described the broadcast as being "of public interest". He wrote that the date "is part of the official Brazilian calendar and holds historical and institutional meaning of its own, separate from the functions of government and especially from the institutional duties of the head of state." The request came from the presidential communications office (Secom), which described the address as a message of "civic, historical and institutional" character about independence, national unity and permanent values of the Brazilian state. Poder360 reported that the Attorney General's Office (AGU), the federal government's legal counsel, issued an opinion in favor of the broadcast.
What the message says
The text was recorded at the Alvorada palace, the presidential residence, and is attached to the TSE ruling. In it, the president defends sovereignty and indirectly criticizes the wave of tariffs imposed by the United States on Brazilian products, G1 reports. "We need to remain strong and unbowed, without lowering our heads, so that Brazil does not become, once again, a colony of other foreign powers," Lula says in the message. "We are not, and we will never be, anyone's colony."
"A sovereign country is one able to defend its territory, its borders, its environment, its wealth and its people from any foreign interests. A sovereign country is one able to create the opportunities its people need to conquer their own independence," the text reads.
There had been concern the request could be refused because of the campaign, Poder360 reported. Sovereignty has been the government's rallying theme in 2026, a year of friction with the United States. Lula has listed national defense, rare earths mining and full-time schooling among his priorities.
On Monday (Sept 7), the president will be in Brasília for the civic-military Independence Day parade. Guests include Cabinet ministers, Senate President Davi Alcolumbre and House Speaker Hugo Motta.