Lula and Bolsonaro seek to capitalize on Independence Day before election

Brazil’s Independence Day became a stage for competing election messages as President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Senator Flávio Bolsonaro addressed supporters less than a month before the first round of the presidential vote on October 4.

Lula led the traditional civil-military parade in Brasília marking 204 years of independence from Portugal. He did not give a speech at the event, which featured themes central to his campaign, including national sovereignty and combating violence against women. The parade carried the slogan “Sovereignty, the force that unites Brazil,” amid tensions with the United States under President Donald Trump.

In a televised address on Sunday night, Lula defended Brazil’s autonomy while referring to U.S. tariffs on some Brazilian products. “No foreign ruler has the right to tell us whom we can buy from and whom we can sell to,” said Lula, who is seeking a fourth nonconsecutive term at age 80.

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No foreign ruler has the right to tell us whom we can buy from and whom we can sell to.

The ceremony also produced an image of institutional unity. Lula appeared wearing the presidential sash alongside Chamber of Deputies President Hugo Motta, Senate President Davi Alcolumbre and Supreme Court Chief Justice Luiz Edson Fachin. The display came as the court faces an unprecedented internal conflict involving serious accusations between two of its judges.

Flávio Bolsonaro made that crisis the focus of a protest in São Paulo attended by thousands of supporters carrying Brazilian, U.S. and Israeli flags. He opened his speech by calling for Lula and Justice Alexandre de Moraes to leave office, then promised to end what he called an alliance between Lula and Moraes. The dispute centers on messages involving Daniel Vorcaro, the former owner of Banco Master who is in pretrial detention over alleged large-scale financial fraud, and Moraes. Police say Vorcaro sought the judge’s protection and asked in writing whether he should leave the country. Documents also indicate that Moraes reviewed a major services contract between his wife’s law firm and Banco Master.

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First of all, out with Lula, out with Moraes!