Bolsonaro uses Brazil’s 200th anniversary in his campaign

Brazilian President Bolsonaro took advantage of the 200th anniversary of the founding of his campaign. On a national holiday, he criticized his opponent in the October presidential election, Lula da Silva.

The president, who has been in power since 2019, attended military parades in several cities across the country and addressed his supporters. In his speech in Rio de Janeiro, the president called his opponent a “gangster” and likened Lula to powerful leftist leaders in Venezuela and Nicaragua.

Bolsonaro is campaigning, among other things, promising to tackle rising gasoline and food prices. Lula focuses, among other things, on reducing unemployment by creating jobs in the industrial sector.

Bolsonaro was highly praised in his speech:

The right-wing populist Bolsonaro lags far behind the leftist Lula in the polls, although he appears to be gaining more ground in recent weeks. But during the ceremony, the president said he did not attach any value to the election. Earlier, Bolsonaro questioned the reliability of the Brazilian digital voting system.

Opponents fear that the president will not succumb to losing the election. But during the independence celebrations, the president did not mention the possibility of electoral fraud.

In the capital, Brasilia, where he also spoke to thousands of supporters, he said nothing about the country’s struggle for independence, but mainly about the things he achieved as president. He was enthusiastically praised by his supporters, who wore the national colors green and yellow.

Lula, who served as president from 2003 to 2010, said in response that as president he has never used the national holiday for political gain. Other presidential candidates have also criticized Bolsonaro’s National Independence Day parade. Several opposition party leaders spoke of the possibility of conducting a judicial investigation into the course of events.

After his speech in Brasilia, Bolsonaro attended another military parade on Copacabana Beach. Cannon shots were fired and the planes flew at a low altitude. The president gave a speech on a truck trailer. On his back is a flag that reads “Clean and transparent elections.”

When Bolsonaro announced his intention to run for president again at the end of July, he already called on his supporters to turn out in droves at Independence Day celebrations to support him.