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LatinNews Regional Monitor: Brazil & Southern Cone - 30 July 2018

Thousands gather in Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro for free-Lula concert

Development: On 28 July thousands of people gathered in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro for a free music concert organised by the Partido dos Trabalhadores (PT) party to call for the release of former president and PT presidential hopeful in the 7 October general election, Lula da Silva (2003-2011).

Significance: With the PT continuing to insist on Lula’s candidacy for the presidency, despite his imprisonment for corruption and money laundering, the party is raising the public pressure for his release. Lula remains first-placed in opinion polls for the presidential election, although over half of Brazilians have yet to make up their mind about who they intend to support. Local media reports suggest that the PT has calculated that its best chance of success is to keep Lula in the race for as long as possible, given his continued popularity.

  • Chico Buarque, Gilberto Gil, and Beth Carvalho were some of the acts performing on the night of 28 July under the iconic arches in Rio de Janeiro’s Lapa neighbourhood. The most widely applauded moment of the evening was Buarque and Gil’s joint performance of ‘Calice’ – one of the major protest songs written during Brazil’s years of military rule (1964-1985).
  • Ahead of the event, officials from Rio de Janeiro’s electoral court confiscated leaflets which they considered to be election campaign material. Campaigning for the October vote is only allowed to begin after 15 August.
  • For its next step the PT is encouraging its followers to engage in a hunger strike on 4 August, and for middle class families to donate food for the day to those living in poverty with the message “Lula sent you this”.
  • The PT has also printed over a 1m leaflets encouraging supporters to participate in a demonstration in the capital, Brasília, in support of the registration of Lula’s candidacy on 15 August. The party expects 30,000-40,000 followers to take part.

Looking Ahead: An analysis by O Globo, a local daily, showed that 80% of women have yet to decide who to vote for in October, compared with 52% of men. The striking figures show that the electoral landscape remains hugely unsettled and that a lot is likely to change before polling day.

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