BRASÍLIA/RIO DE JANEIRO, Feb 15 (Reuters) – When President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva learned that a samba school in Rio de Janeiro would have as its plot for this year’s Carnival parade his journey from metalworker to leader of the nation, he was moved and then smiled for the photos holding the association’s flag.
But, as the parade approached, the tribute became a political issue.
Opposition parties and politicians have filed a series of lawsuits alleging that Lula is benefiting from what they describe as an illegal form of early campaigning ahead of the October election in which Lula will seek re-election.
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Courts have already dismissed all but one of the lawsuits, including one that asked judges to block the parade from taking place. But other actions could be filed if the event, scheduled for Sunday night, is used to ask for votes for Lula, which would be illegal.
Still, Lula plans to attend a performance by the Acadêmicos de Niterói samba school, which will sing and dance about his life and that of his mother, the president’s aides told Reuters. He will not make any statements. Plans by first lady Rosangela “Janja” da Silva to participate in the parade are being considered, people familiar with the matter told Reuters.
“It’s not a campaign,” said Tiago Martins, carnival worker at Acadêmicos de Niterói. “It is a plot that fully conveys the life story of a warrior man, a man who, with all his difficulties, reaches the Presidency of the Republic.”
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Critics disagree, pointing, for example, to mentions in the samba lyrics of the number 13, the same number that Lula and the PT use at the polls.
“This is something from the Soviet Republic, from North Korea, the ode to the great leader,” said deputy Marcel Van Hattem, leader of the opposition Novo party, which filed one of the legal actions against Lula.
CARNIVAL IN MODERATION
The parade created by Acadêmicos de Niterói portrays the poor childhood of the president born in the interior of Pernambuco and his mother’s journey to São Paulo with her children in search of a better life.
“I saw myself in the eyes of my children, haunted and empty. With my chest in pieces, I went after love and my dreams”, says the lyrics of the samba-enredo.
Members of Academicos de Niterói sought the president’s authorization to use his life story last year, before proceeding with the project. After receiving authorization, Lula welcomed Martins and other members of the school to a dinner at Palácio da Alvorada, in September.
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As they sang the samba they had composed for the parade, Lula became emotional and cried, people who were present told Reuters. He later described the performance as a tribute to his mother, Dona Lindu, and not to himself.
Lula’s aides acknowledged to Reuters the political sensitivity of the parade. Following the increase in lawsuits, the president’s team consulted legal advisors to clarify what restrictions apply during the pre-election period.
Government ministers present at the parade were instructed to remain seated in the audience, not to participate in the parade itself, not to use public funds for travel and not to make gestures, statements or live publications related to the elections on social media. Lula will not make any public speeches.
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OUT OF LIMITS
Opposition members argue that the precautions demonstrate that the government knows that the tribute exceeds legal limits.
They complain that Acadêmicos de Niterói received hundreds of thousands of reais in public resources to hold the parade.
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But government lawyers emphasized that all samba schools in Rio that participate in official parades receive the same amount of resources and that the funds are not linked to artistic choices.
All of the lawsuits so far have been dismissed because the judges agreed with the government’s arguments or highlighted procedural issues. A case is still pending at the Federal Audit Court (TCU), although a preliminary decision also rejected the blocking of funds for the parade.
Although Lula has participated in Rio’s Carnival parade before, also when he was president, it is not common for presidents to do so.
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Former president Itamar Franco famously got into trouble in the 1990s after being photographed next to a woman without underwear during a parade.
For Martins, from Acadêmicos de Niterói, the political conflict overshadowed what, for him, is a deeply personal artistic achievement.
“Samba says ‘there are a poor man’s son becoming a doctor’, and I, a poor man’s son, becoming a carnival worker”, he said. “We wanted to bring the story of the man who did a lot for the poor people, who did a lot for Brazil.”
