Elections in Brazil: Jair Bolsonaro and Lula da Silva mobilize their bases and anticipate a tough battle

President Jair Bolsonaro and former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva mobilized thousands of their supporters this Saturday in Sao Paulo, in a taste of the tough battle which will take place in Brazil’s largest constituency, key to the October 2 elections.

Bolsonaro attended the “March for Jesus”, organized by evangelical groups, which constitute the social support base for their government. And, just a few kilometers away, Lula connects to her working class origins in Diadema, a metropolitan area of ​​the capital of São Paulo.

There are 85 days to go before the elections, but Brazil is already immersed in the climate of a campaign that the far-right leader passes himself off as “Good versus evil” and the progressive leader like “love versus hate” in a highly polarized context.

“We are the majority of the country, the majority of good, and, in this war of good against evil, good will win”, assured the current far-right head of state in front of hundreds of evangelical faithful.

However, Bolsonaro appears with a disadvantage of between 15 and 20 points in all the polls, which clearly favor Lula, who this Saturday attacked the leadership of the rival, criticized businessmen who think only of fiscal policy and promised to “rebuild” Brazil and “end hunger”.

However, Lula’s vast advantage over Bolsonaro comes down to São Paulo, home to 35 of Brazil’s 150 million voters. A survey published Thursday by the firm Genial / Quaest even foresees it a technical link between the two in the richest region of the country.

For this reason, the two applicants are concentrating much of their efforts on winning the trust of the people of São Paulo.

ferocious showdown

The candidate of the Workers’ Party (PT) held an act on the outskirts of Sao Paulo, its political cradlewhere he worked as a metallurgist and led massive demonstrations during the military dictatorship (1964-1985).

In an energetic speech, the former president branded Bolsonaro as a “fascist” and attributed the “33 million Brazilians who today go to sleep without having anything to eat”.

Furthermore, he criticized businessmen who “only care” about their fiscal policy plan and “do not speak” to talk about workers’ wages.

“They think that the poor only like third (category) things. What a pity! The poor like to eat well, dress well and, above all, we like to earn well, have respect; this is the world we will create,” he expressed.

Bolsonaro, against abortion and ideology

For his part, Bolsonaro surrounded himself with evangelical faithful in the capital of Sao Paulo, as he did last month in other cities of the country, with the aim of increase your low popularity.

Brazil is now suffering from rampant inflation (12%) and double-digit unemployment (11%), to which is added the latest corruption scandal uncovered by the Ministry of Education, in which evangelical pastors close to the president are involved.

In this context, the retired army captain seeks to strengthen his image among followers of the Pentecostal churches, which have enormous political influence, by reinforcing his conservative value agenda.

“We are against abortion, gender ideology and drug liberation. We are the defenders of the Brazilian family, “she said.

He also asked not to fall “into the pains of socialism” and mentioned the situation that some countries in the region are experiencing such as “Venezuela, Argentina and Chile”, governed by progressive leaders, as Colombia will soon be, after the victory of l former guerrilla Gustavo Petro.

1,000 kilometers away, one of his three politically addicted sons, MP Eduardo Bolsonaro, participated in a march in Brasilia to demand greater freedom from the use of firearms, a policy defended by his father.

In addition to the president, the Brazilians will go to the polls in October to renew the legislative chambers and choose the regional governors and, in this sense, the state of Sao Paulo also presents itself as a battle between Lula and Bolsonaro.

Two of his dolphins will compete for the Governorate of São Paulo: former mayor and former PT presidential candidate Fernando Haddad and former Bolsonaro infrastructure minister Tarcísio Gomes de Freitas.

Both accompanied the two presidential candidates in the proceedings of this Saturday.

In this case, polls also predict a comfortable victory for Haddad, whose road has been smoothed after the resignation of former São Paulo governor Márcio França, who has joined Lula’s campaign and will finally compete for a seat in the Senate.

Source: EFE

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