Student groups and unions are organizing nationwide demonstrations for Lula ahead of the Oct. 25 presidential runoff against Flávio Bolsonaro.
Brazilian student movements, trade unions and social organizations are stepping up nationwide demonstrations in support of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s reelection bid ahead of the Oct. 25 presidential runoff against Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, with rallies combining electoral campaigning and demands for labor and social reforms.
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The mobilization follows the first round of voting on Oct. 4 and seeks to build on spontaneous demonstrations held in its aftermath. Coordinated by the National Union of Students, academic organizations and trade unions, the campaign focuses on defending public education, national sovereignty and the abolition of the six-day-on, one-day-off work schedule known as the 6×1 system.
A nationwide day of action is planned for Sunday, Oct. 11, under the slogan “On the 11th, the working class takes to the streets.” Planned gatherings include the Museum of Art of São Paulo on Avenida Paulista and Parque 13 de Maio in Recife. Demonstrations are also scheduled in Brasília, around the National Museum of the Republic, and in Natal, outside the Midway Mall shopping center. The campaign is set to continue through the runoff.
Text Reads: 🇧🇷 Students returned to the streets of Brazil to defend Lula da Silva’s government and show their support for the president ahead of the October 25th runoff election.
Student organizations have also convened general assemblies at the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo, La Salle University and institutions in the states of Minas Gerais and Bahia.
Alongside the street mobilization, a political caravan known as Agenda da Virada is working to reach undecided voters and reduce abstention in industrial centers. Led by Guilherme Boulos, minister of the General Secretariat of the Presidency, the initiative has held meetings at Praça Roosevelt and with automotive workers in São Bernardo do Campo.
The caravan plans motorized tours across São Paulo before joining Sunday’s demonstrations. It will then continue to Sorocaba, Goiânia, Florianópolis and Ribeirão Preto.
Organizations backing Lula, including Revolução Socialista, argue that defeating the Bolsonaro movement requires both electoral support for the president and sustained street mobilization to press for reforms addressing the needs of the majority.
Support for Lula has also come from prominent figures in Brazil’s intellectual and religious circles. On Saturday, Oct. 10, theologian, writer and philosopher Leonardo Boff, 87, released a video message from a hospital bed urging voters to support the president.
“This is about taking a side: voting for Lula to safeguard all these benefits and, at the same time, ensure a Brazil that is open to the world,” Boff said. He urged voters to choose Lula, whose ballot number is 13.
No details were disclosed about the reason for Boff’s hospitalization or his health condition. In his message, he described the election as a choice between two opposing historical projects and warned that a victory for extremist forces could put key social programs and public services at risk.
The initiatives he cited included Farmácia Popular, the popular pharmacy program; the Unified Health System (SUS); Bolsa Família, the federal cash-transfer program; Pé-de-Meia, an educational assistance initiative; Luz para Todos, a rural electrification program; university affirmative-action quotas; and protections for the Amazon and Indigenous peoples.
With demonstrations planned through Oct. 25, Lula’s supporters are seeking to combine street mobilization with efforts to secure votes in the final stage of the presidential race against Flávio Bolsonaro.
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