Either Lula or Bolsonaro today in Brazil.
São Paulo, Oct 3 (EFE).-
President and re-election candidate Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and his closest rival, Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, led massive rallies across São Paulo state on Saturday. The region, Brazil’s largest electoral district, served as the backdrop for both campaigns to demonstrate political strength ahead of Sunday’s vote.
While the ruling party gathered in the state capital, marching from Paulista Avenue to one of the city’s main squares, the eldest son of former president Jair Bolsonaro led a motorcycle rally through the state’s interior.
More than 158 million Brazilians are eligible to vote on Sunday, including 34 million in São Paulo state, where both candidates chose to wrap up their presidential and legislative campaigns.
A red wave for re-election
Under intense sunshine, Lula rode atop a sound truck wearing his trademark Panama hat, greeting a crowd clad in red that surged toward the vehicle to reach out to him.
Flanked by Fernando Haddad, his candidate for São Paulo governor, alongside Senate candidates Marina Silva and Simone Tebet, the progressive leader urged supporters to head to the polls “with great peace of mind, knowing that democracy and sovereignty are on one side, while barbarism and corruption are on the other.”
Thousands turned out bearing flags and t-shirts stamped with “Brazil Belongs to the Brazilians,” a slogan used by the administration since Donald Trump imposed tariffs on many Brazilian imports during the trial against the elder Bolsonaro, which resulted in a 27-year sentence for an attempted coup d’état.
Beatriz Pimenta, a 24-year-old attendee, told EFE she is voting for Lula because she believes in “a sovereign Brazil” and sees the incumbent leader as “the strongest politician to prevent intervention from the United States.”
On social media, the Workers’ Party (PT) leader shared an aerial photograph of the rally with the caption “DataPovo” (‘DataPeople’), playing on the name of the polling firm Datafolha, which places him behind his rival in São Paulo state.
Honking for freedom
Meanwhile, Liberal Party (PL) candidate Flávio Bolsonaro, joined by São Paulo Governor and re-election candidate Tarcísio de Freitas, led a motorcycle rally between Santa Bárbara d’Oeste and Americana, roughly 130 kilometers (80 miles) from the capital.
Thousands of supporters accompanied the procession on motorcycles, buses, and cars, waving Brazilian flags and displaying banners backing the far-right candidate and his father.
The younger Bolsonaro greeted followers amid calls for the release of those the crowd described as “political prisoners,” including Jair Bolsonaro himself and individuals convicted in connection with the Jan. 8, 2023, attack on government headquarters in Brasília.
Along the route, crowds gathered on overpasses and followed the procession from adjacent lanes, honking horns and waving Brazilian flags from car windows.
Flávio’s campaign concludes this afternoon with another motorcycle rally in Rio de Janeiro, where he will cast his vote on Sunday at a polling station in the city’s north zone.
In the first round, the incumbent leader commands 45% of valid votes compared to 40% for the far-right senator, excluding blank and spoiled ballots, according to a poll released on Thursday.
If no candidate secures more than 50% of valid votes on Sunday, a runoff election will take place on Oct. 25. EFE adm/dmv
