SAO PAULO — About 28,500 people massed on Sao Paulo’s Avenida Paulista on Monday for an Independence Day rally behind right-wing presidential candidate Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, researchers from the University of Sao Paulo’s Monitor do Debate Politico estimated. Organizers cast the march as a protest against President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ahead of Oct. 4 first-round voting.
A Quaest poll released Monday showed Lula and Bolsonaro tied at 41% each in a potential Oct. 25 runoff. Flavio Bolsonaro, son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, told supporters: “This consortium of Lula and Moraes will come to an end.†Crowds waved Brazilian flags; some carried U.S. and Israeli flags. Turnout was below last year’s similar event (~42,000) and far below a 2024 Jair Bolsonaro rally (~185,000).
The demonstration came amid a Supreme Court crisis after Justice Andre Mendonca, a Bolsonaro appointee, disclosed a report questioning alleged contacts involving Moraes and a banker accused in a major fraud case. Moraes sought an investigation of Mendonca for alleged abuse of authority. Jair Bolsonaro remains under house arrest and barred from running.
Lula attended the traditional Independence Day military parade in Brasilia but did not speak there. In a televised address the night before, he stressed national sovereignty and democracy.
Sources: Reuters
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