‘Lula represents hope’: Brazil presidential frontrunner takes his message into

Thousands of favela residents and activists have hit the streets of Rio to voice their support for Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the leftist frontrunner to become Brazil’s next president.

Addressing a sea of supporters in one of Rio’s largest favelas, the Complexo do Alemão, Lula vowed to give his far-right rival Jair Bolsonaro “a thrashing” when South America’s biggest democracy holds the second round of its presidential election at the end of October.

“We’re going to win these elections,” proclaimed the 76-year-old ex-president who fell just short of an outright victory over Bolsonaro in the first round 10 days ago.

Lula, who rose from rural poverty to become Brazil’s first working-class president in 2002, said he was determined to return to power “to prove to the elites who have governed since 1500 that once again a metalworker will fix this country”.

“The only reason I’m running for president once again is my belief that we can change things,” Lula told activists during an assembly at the headquarters of Voz das Comunidades, the favela news group that organised his rare visit. “I promise you that this country is going to change – and it’s going to change for the better.”

Residents from more than 30 favelas had flocked to the Complexo do Alemão on Wednesday morning to champion a politician they hope can end Bolsonaro’s tumultuous four-year reign, during which Covid killed nearly 700,000 people and millions were plunged into poverty.

“Lula setting foot in the favela is an act of resistance. It shows that we’re not alone – that there’s hope,” said Douglas Viana, a 30-year-old activist from another sprawling working-class community, the Complexo da Maré. “This is a historic moment for the country. We’ve never seen anything on this scale,” Viana added.

Rene Silva, the founder of the Voz das Comunidades, voiced optimism that social change was around the corner under Lula, who used his two-term presidency to help millions escape poverty and enter higher education with the proceeds of a regional commodities boom.

“Lula represents hope – hope of less hunger and less inequality. We’ve taken so many steps backwards during Bolsonaro’s four years in power – and it will take a long time to rebuild all of this,” said Silva, 27.

Anielle Franco, a campaigner whose politician sister Marielle Franco was assassinated in 2018, said she hoped a Lula victory might help secure justice for her murdered sibling.

“Lula symbolises the return of the humble, the poor, the black and the north-easterners from the favela to the presidency – everything that we don’t have under this government,” Franco said.

Fighting a ‘government of hatred’

Lula won the election’s first round in the region around Alemão, a vast sweep of redbrick housing in north Rio with tens of thousands of residents, as well…