Bolsonaro mixes marketing campaign politics, navy shows on Brazil bicentennial

BRASILIA/RIO DE JANEIRO, Sept 7 (Reuters) – President Jair Bolsonaro mingled navy parades on Brazil’s Independence Day with political rallies in Rio de Janeiro and Brasilia on Wednesday, firing up a whole bunch of 1000’s of supporters lower than a month earlier than a heated election.

Opponents and authorized specialists criticized the far-right chief for co-opting public celebrations of Brazil’s bicentennial to serve his re-election marketing campaign, wherein polls present him trailing leftist rival Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva forward of a Oct. 2 vote.

“Our battle is a combat between good and evil,” Bolsonaro instructed his supporters from a sound truck in Brasilia, amid cries of “Lula, thief” and banners calling for navy intervention in Brazil’s Supreme Court docket.

Bolsonaro toned down his assaults towards the judiciary after spending greater than a 12 months blasting the courts that run Brazilian elections, which he calls weak to fraud, with out citing proof.

The president’s criticism of Brazil’s digital voting system has stirred requires a navy coup from a few of his extra radical backers. Some observers worry he’s laying the groundwork to say electoral fraud like his U.S. ally, former President Donald Trump, and reject a possible Lula victory. read more

Nevertheless, Bolsonaro’s supporters have been assured on Wednesday, pointing to the throngs on Brasilia’s mall and Rio’s Copacabana Seaside as an indication that polls are skewed and the president may clinch the election and not using a second-round runoff.

“I got here to assist him as a result of he’s being attacked by Communists and establishments managed by former president (Lula),” mentioned Sidney Granja, a mechanic from Rio’s north aspect.

He additionally mentioned he was assured Bolsonaro would win the elections democratically, and concede if defeated by Lula.

In Brasilia, authorities maintained a decent safety cordon to maintain Bolsonaro supporters from advancing towards the Supreme Court docket, as his supporters tried final 12 months in an indication that some in contrast Jan. 6, 2021 assault on the U.S. Capitol.

Bolsonaro kicked off the proceedings there by presiding over a navy parade celebrating 200 years of Brazil’s independence from Portugal. The exhibition included marching troops, armored autos, air pressure flyovers and tractors from the highly effective farm sector, which is core to Bolsonaro’s political assist.

Supporters drowned out a navy choir by chanting “Our flag won’t ever be purple!” – a jab on the colours of Lula’s social gathering.

Bolsonaro later attended navy shows in Rio, that included paratroopers touchdown on the shore and warships off-shore, after which headlined a second rally on the well-known Copacabana beachfront.

He laid into his leftist rival Lula, the previous president who was jailed for corruption however later had his convictions annulled by the Supreme Court docket.

“This sort of individual should be extirpated from public life,” he mentioned.

Attorneys for Lula’s marketing campaign coalition known as on electoral courts to research Bolsonaro’s rallies as a misuse of public sources for marketing campaign functions.

Opinion polls present Lula, who was president from 2003 to 2010, main the presidential race, though his benefit has narrowed in latest months. The newest surveys nonetheless present Lula defeating Bolsonaro by double digits in a probable run-off vote on the finish of October. read more

Reporting by Anthony Boadle, Ricardo Brito, Ueslei Marcelino and Adriano Machado; Modifying by Brad Haynes, Paul Simao, Rosalba O’Brien and Aurora Ellis

Our Requirements: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.