Rio Carnival parades kick off with divisive ode to Lula in election year

A colossal metallic robot depicting Brazil’s Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva towered over Rio de Janeiro’s famed Sambadrome avenue on Sunday night, in a Carnival parade that has drawn fire for its tribute to a sitting president in an election year. Samba school Academicos de Niteroi kicked off three days of dazzling parades with the homage to Lula, tracing his life as a boy growing up in poverty in the arid northeast, to a metalworker, union leader and then president. The opposition has slammed the parade as veiled early campaigning ahead of October polls in which the 80-year-old Lula is seeking a fourth term.

Lula and his wife Rosangela “Janja” da Silva watched the parade from one of the many VIP boxes lining the avenue. There were striking workers, dancers draped in giant lightbulbs to represent access to electricity and those depicting the poor getting benefits in what was also an ode to a raft of leftist concerns. The crowd seated along the 700-meter avenue sang along to the theme song chosen by Academicos de Niteroi, which included the catchy refrain often used by the president’s supporters: “Ole, ole, ole, ola; Lula, Lula!” Luena Holliday, 51, an events organizer, said she was a fan of the veteran leftist, but she was torn about the choice of theme.

“I find it confusing. I support Lula… but we’re in a very divided moment in the country, and I don’t know how appropriate it is to associate Carnival with Lula,” she told AFP. The parades of the city’s top 12 samba schools — a ferocious competition featuring massive, animated floats, thundering drum sections and scantily-clad samba queens — are the showpiece of Rio’s Carnival.

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Behind the pomp and glitter, each school chooses an annual theme, often linked to Afro-Brazilian heritage, social or political commentary, mythology or environmental issues. The parade — the first to honor a serving president — made no mention of the election, but did not shy away from politics. The theme song declares “no amnesty” — the leftist chant against efforts to free former far-right president Jair Bolsonaro from a 27-year jail term he is serving for plotting a failed coup.

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