Rio Carnival parades kick off with divisive ode to Lula

RIO DE JANEIRO

A colossal metallic robot depicting Brazil's Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva towered over Rio de Janeiro's famed Sambadrome avenue on Feb. 15 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!"

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.

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.

And one of the floats depicted a giant Bozo the Clown in prison stripes behind bars, with a massive ankle bracelet, a clear reference to Bolsonaro, who has often been nicknamed "Bozo" by his critics.

Bolsonaro was moved from house arrest to prison before the official start of his sentence after trying to remove his ankle monitoring bracelet with a soldering iron.

"Bozo in Jail? That's where he is supposed to be," a glitter-covered Nelia Macedo, 44, told AFP, praising a parade which "exceeded all expectations."

Marcia Alves, 59, a retired businesswoman, who admits she is not a supporter of Lula, said "you shouldn't mix Carnival with politics. It's for everyone to have fun, everyone has their own opinion."