MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Lula y Flávio Bolsonaro abren la campaña brasileña en sus respectivas cunas políticas

The Quaest poll released on Friday gives Lula 43% against Flávio Bolsonaro's 40% in a potential runoff

Brazil's two leading presidential candidates launched their campaigns for the October 4 elections on Sunday with rallies at the venues associated with their political trajectories. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva drew more than 10,000 supporters to the Vila Euclides stadium in São Bernardo do Campo, in São Paulo's industrial belt, while Senator Flávio Bolsonaro gathered his backers on Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro.

Lula, 80, chose the stadium where he came to prominence 47 years ago as a metalworkers' union leader during the military dictatorship. He appeared wearing a hat following a skin cancer diagnosis and argued for continuity in his social policies. “People ask me why I want a fourth term. Because, as long as I am alive, I will not allow the right, responsible for 400,000 Covid deaths through irresponsibility, to return,” he said. He announced he would present his government platform within ten days, including measures for women in education and prevention of gender-based violence.

The first speaker was Benedita da Silva, an 84-year-old Workers' Party lawmaker, former domestic worker and Senate candidate. Lula's running mate is the current vice-president, Geraldo Alckmin.

Flávio Bolsonaro, 45, spoke from a truck wearing a bulletproof vest under a yellow T-shirt. Before the rally he said, without providing evidence, that he had received 1,800 death threats. He devoted much of his speech to criticizing the government: he accused it of driving families into debt, of generating losses at state companies and of being soft on drug trafficking, and said “corruption has reached the president's office.” He pledged to fight crime and to remove what he described as left-wing ideology from schools. He also committed to combating violence against women, accompanied by his mother and his wife.

Attendance figures differ by source: international agencies reported thousands of people at Copacabana, while other coverage referred to a few hundred.

The Quaest poll released on Friday gives Lula 43% against Flávio Bolsonaro's 40% in a potential runoff, with a margin of error of two points. Rejection stands at 54% for the senator and 52% for the president. Seven in ten respondents say they have decided their vote.

Jair Bolsonaro, the candidate's father, is serving a sentence for attempting a coup after his 2022 defeat and is barred from office. Lula won that election by 1.8 points. Alongside the presidency, governors, the Chamber of Deputies and two-thirds of the Senate will be elected on October 4. A runoff, if needed, will be held on October 25.