Tens of thousands of Lula supporters rally in Rio on eve of Brazil's presidential runoff
Supporters of Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva gathered on Rio's Copacabana beach on Saturday, a day before the presidential runoff. Polls show him roughly tied with far-right rival Flávio Bolsonaro.
Tens of thousands of supporters of Brazil's leftwing president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, gathered on Rio de Janeiro's Copacabana beach on Saturday for a large rally, one day before the presidential runoff. Nearly 159 million Brazilians are eligible to vote on Sunday in a contest between Lula and far-right candidate Flávio Bolsonaro. The two are tied in the polls, even though Bolsonaro won the first round on 4 October by 47% to 45%.
An unprecedented comeback attempt
Since democracy returned to Brazil in the 1980s, no first-round loser has gone on to win the presidency. Lula, who is 80, is seeking a fourth non-consecutive term. Most analysts still see Bolsonaro, whose father Jair Bolsonaro was president from 2019 to 2022, as a slight favourite. He has promised to tackle chronic violent crime with an iron fist.
In recent days Lula has appeared to regain the initiative and climb in the polls. The Brazilian magazine Piauí reported that in 2020, at the height of the coronavirus outbreak, Flávio Bolsonaro attended a boat party with sex workers and vaccine lobbyists hoping to strike a deal with his father's government.
Why marchers came
Participants spoke of defending democracy. Many were young, including teenagers. A large share belonged to "Lula's Army", a WhatsApp group of 10 million members created after the first round. Restaurateur Marta Moraes said she lost four family members during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Jair Bolsonaro is serving a 27-year prison sentence for plotting a coup after losing the 2022 election to Lula. Some Brazilians fear he could be released if his son wins.
Bolsonaro's supporters
Large crowds of Bolsonaro supporters also took to the streets, including in Belo Horizonte, capital of Minas Gerais state. The state has Brazil's second-largest electorate after São Paulo, and no candidate has ever won the presidency without carrying it. Bolsonaro led there by just under 5% in the first round. His supporters criticised Lula and praised Jair Bolsonaro's loosening of gun laws, which Lula later tightened again.
