Lula promised to cut taxes on workers and called Bolsonaro a demon at the official launch of his campaign | High debate tensions are growing between the two main candidates for Brazil’s presidency

Former President of Brazil Luis Inacio Lula da SilvaHe launched the final campaign this Wednesday with a massive action in São Bernardo do Campo, an industrial area of ​​São Paulo, for the October 2 presidential election. rejected the economic policy of Jair Bolsonaro“A man,” he defined Haunted lie seven times a day”. Having promised to cut taxes on workers, Lula devoted a large part of his speech to rebuttals A profile of the evangelical Bolsonaro wants to give his campaignTogether with the religious sect, which represents about 30 percent of the population, the PT is seeking to rebound in polls that have given the leader an increasingly narrow victory.

Earlier, the fear of an attack against the ex-president and a section of his close advisers caused the Federal Police to decide Lula canceled an operation he had planned to carry out in a factory due to lack of security From Jurapatuba area. Meanwhile the President Jair Bolsonaro He starred in a rally in the state of Minas Gerais, the same corner where he was punched in the 2018 campaign. “The City I’m Reincarnated In”Bolsonaro said at the start of the plenary speech Patriotic statements and notes about God and the Bible. The two main candidates for the presidency went head-to-head last night in Brasília at the judge’s inauguration. Alexandre de Moraes As head of the High Electoral Court, the president occupies a seat in the officers’ box and Lula a seat in the first row of stalls, reserved for guests.

Lula: “A government that fosters love”

“If anyone is possessed by the devil, it’s Bolsonaro.”In an act of immense symbolism, Lula shouted at the gates of the Volkswagen factory in São Bernardo do Campo, his political cradle and where he became known as a trade union leader in the 1970s. The PT leader accused the Bolsonaro government of having no economic policy for a country suffering from ten percent inflation and 9.3 percent unemployment.

Lula declared that one of his first actions if he won in October Increase the income tax paid by workersIt has not been updated in the last ten years, confirming that the country is now worse off than when he took office in 2003. Surrounded by hundreds of metalworkers and union representatives. The former mechanical lathe called the far-right leader a Parisian and a genocidal.

“This country cannot have a president who no one wants, who lies seven times a day, who lies to evangelicals. He is a Pharisee and is trying to manipulate the good faith of the church-going people,” Lula denounced in response to reports circulating in Bolsonaro groups that the former president would close down religious temples if he returned to power.

“There will be no lies or fake news to make him rule this country.”, between 2003 and 2010 the former head of state was sentenced to applause by his supporters. “We don’t want a government that distributes weapons, we want a government that distributes books. “We don’t want a government that feeds on hate, we want a government that feeds on love,” said an emotional Lula as he officially launched his seventh election campaign at the age of 76.

The Brazilian Federal Police decided on Monday night that the road leading to the MWM Motors factory in Jurapatuba, Sao Paulo, was not guaranteed to be safe, thus canceling the event scheduled for Tuesday morning. On July 9, a Bolsonaro police officer, Jorge Curranho, shot and killed the PT leader in Foz de Iguazu, Marcelo Arruda., by crashing his birthday party. Such acts of violence, with clear political motives, Lula began wearing bulletproof vests at mass events.

“This country does not want communism”

For your part Jair Bolsonaro Four years ago he officially launched his campaign for re-election in the city of Juís de Fora, where he was stabbed at a rally, leading him to the Brazilian presidency. The far-right leader returned to the municipality in Minas Gerais state to honor the site, as he said, “Rebirth by the Hand of God” In 2018, he was declared incompetent and hospitalized after being stabbed in the abdomen by a psychiatric patient named Adelio Bispo.

Bolsonaro arrived at the event at noon by motorcycle after a small caravan from the airport, where he held his first meeting with evangelical leaders. “This country doesn’t want regression, it doesn’t want gender ideology in schools, it doesn’t want to free drugs. This country values ​​life from its conception and does not want communism,” Bolsonaro said during his speech in Minas Gerais.

Bolsonaro associated progressive governments in Latin America with suffering and the persecution of churches, particularly citing the cases of Nicaragua and Venezuela. “We know the struggle of good against evil. We protect absolute freedom, if someone is offended they go to court, but You can’t make laws like fake news“, the President said while criticizing the plan to ban those who spread lies and institute actions against third parties based on false data.

Attended the event in Minas Gerais. His wife, Michelle Bolsonaro, prayed to the Our Father, cheering him on as a candidate for re-election.. The event also helped launch an advertising campaign for the president’s Liberal Party, in which the jingle would appear. “People’s Captain” (The People’s Captain), recalls his military past before he was discharged from the army for misconduct in the late 1980s.

The presidential election is in full swing

The presidential campaign was marked by a series of questionsWithout evidence, Reliability of Electronic Voting in Bolsonaro’s Brazil. His criticism has raised fears that he will not concede defeat. Lula, who regained his political rights in 2021 after convictions in the Lava Jato anti-corruption mega-case were overturned, continues to lead in the polls, even as the far-right leader appears to be closing the gap.

Consultant IPEC He said on Monday Lula collected 44 percent of voting intentions in the first round compared to 32 percent for Bolsonaro.. Last month, Datafolha put Lula at 47 percent and Bolsonaro at 29 percent. The main concern of Brazilians, according to surveys, is the economic situation, marked by high unemployment and inflation in recent years, which makes Bolsonaro unpopular.

While there is a trend for the president to improve his numbers due to the recent drop in fuel prices and increases in social assistance, it is likely that he will come in time to reverse the big numbers that analysts do not know. More than 156 million Brazilians are eligible to vote on Oct. 2, with the country’s 26 state representatives, senators and governorships up for grabs in a contested first round of elections.