Presidential candidates used social media and public events on Sunday (6), the eve of Brazil's Independence Day, to mobilize voters and sharpen their campaign messages. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of the Workers' Party, who is running for reelection, released a video contrasting his remarks with statements by Senator Flavio Bolsonaro and his brother, Congressman Eduardo Bolsonaro, about Brazil's relationship with the United States. Flavio Bolsonaro, his main rival in the polls, held a live stream. On the streets, Renan Santos rode a motorcade in Fortaleza and Ronaldo Caiado visited a street market in Aparecida de Goiania, in Goias state, according to G1.
Lula and Flavio Bolsonaro trade blows online
In the video, Lula says the election will force voters to choose between "two sides". The clip cuts between the Bolsonaro brothers' statements and the president's replies. After Flavio Bolsonaro says "the tariff will reach Brazil", Lula answers: "They are traitors to the homeland. History does not forgive them". On Pix, the free instant payment system created by Brazil's central bank, the president says: "The Pix belongs to Brazil. It is public, it is free, and it will remain ours". The video closes with a clash of slogans: Flavio Bolsonaro says "God bless America", and Lula ends with "Long live the Brazilian people". The caption says this year's vote decides whether the country will have "a Brazil that stands up to protect the nation or a country that shrinks before other nations".
Flavio Bolsonaro used his live stream to mark eight years since his father, former president Jair Bolsonaro, was stabbed during the 2018 campaign in Juiz de Fora. The candidate said he is barred from contact with his father, who is under house arrest, and asked supporters to leave messages for the former president as if he were watching. Flavio Bolsonaro also attacked Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, criticized the Lula administration and questioned the arrests tied to the January 8, 2023 riots, when the seats of Brazil's three branches of government were stormed and ransacked. According to the newspaper Estado de S. Paulo, he pressed Justice Carmen Lucia for a vote to open an investigation into Moraes and called supporters to a rally on Monday (7).
A motorcade in Fortaleza, a street market in Goias
In Fortaleza, Renan Santos rode through the city wearing a bulletproof vest. Campaign aides told G1 the gear was a response to threats from criminal gangs. He was joined by Delegado Huggo, a candidate for governor of Ceara. In Goias, Caiado attacked the tax burden, interest rates and crime during his visit to the Garavelo street market. Augusto Cury and Romeu Zema had no public events, according to their campaigns. Cury announced upcoming events on social media, while Zema posted a gym photo and a teaser of the series "Os intocaveis" ("The Untouchables"), in which he criticizes Supreme Court justices.
Both camps treat the holiday as strategic. According to CNN Brasil, Lula's team admits that the crisis at the Supreme Court and leaks about investigations involving the president's son have set the tone of the race, and sees a "new moment" after polls showed the two front-runners closing in on each other. Flavio Bolsonaro's circle expects to take the lead after the holiday and is organizing a rally by his party, the PL, on Paulista Avenue in Sao Paulo. Lula will address the nation on Monday, with authorization from the electoral court, and is expected to focus on sovereignty.
Monday brings the Independence Day military parades, the PL rally on Paulista Avenue and the president's address. From there, the campaign moves toward the first round of the election in October.