MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Bolsonaro and Lula da Silva plan rallies on Tuesday, Brazil's Independence Day

Bolsonaro will address the crowd in Brasilia on Tuesday morning and in Sao Paulo in the afternoon

Tuesday 7 September is the Grito do Ipiranga festivity or Independence Day in Brazil, and on this occasion president Jair Bolsonaro supporters and opposition militants will be taking to the streets.

Convened by Bolsonaro in Brasilia, followers at a political rally Tuesday morning will listen to the president, who is trying to recover his poor showings in the opinion polls and later in the day will fly to Sao Paulo for a similar gathering in his support.

Counter demonstrations against Bolsonaro have also been planned, and ex president Lula da Silva is expected to give an address on social media Tuesday afternoon.

Security has been increased both in Brasilia and Sao Paulo, anticipating any possible events of violence.

Presidential elections in Brazil are scheduled for next year, with Bolsonaro wanting to repeat but opinion polls show he has lost much support because of his handling of the Covid 19 pandemic, questioning the Brazilian electoral process and the Judiciary and his environment policies.

Lula da Silva on the other hand has seen his support soar and in all theoretical confrontations in all run off scenarios is the loser. He calls Bolsonaro a psychopath to the delight of his followers.

Meantime left wing leaders from the world, including ex Spanish prime minister, Rodriguez Zapatero and former finance minister from Greece Yanis Varoufakis have warned in an open letter released on Monday, that Bolsonaro is planning a military coup, or rather an insurrection modeled on Trump's followers storming Congress last 6 January.

Bolsonaro has insisted that the electronic voting system is prone to fraud and wants a return to the paper ballots. On the issue he has confronted members of the Supreme Federal court and Electoral court members.

To make things worse, allegedly some police unions have anticipated they would be participating in the pro Bolsonaro rallies. The president has claimed that the marches will be peaceful.