(Adnkronos) – Thousands of people demonstrated yesterday in several Brazilian cities in support of leftist president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who will run for a new term in the October elections. Authorities did not release figures on participation in the rallies in Rio de Janeiro, Brasilia, and São Paulo. In the capital, Lula’s wife, Rosangela “Janja” da Silva, led the procession, according to AFP journalists present on site.
The demonstrations took place while Lula’s main rival, Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, is under investigation for corruption and money laundering. The case concerns the financing of the film “Dark Horse” about his father, former far-right president Jair Bolsonaro (2019-2022). In Rio and Brasilia, numerous demonstrators marched wearing the red shirts of Lula’s Workers’ Party and brandishing signs reading: “the far-right is rotten and corrupt.” A smaller rally took place in the rain in São Paulo. The first round of the presidential elections will be held on October 4. In the polls, Flavio Bolsonaro is neck and neck with Lula – who at 80 is aiming for a fourth term – in view of the probable hypothesis of a runoff on October 25.
