President Jair Bolsonaro's supporters chanted "Our flag will never be red!" — a jab at the colours of leftist rival Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's party amid a military choir.
Shortly before his speech, Bolsonaro presided over a military parade celebrating 200 years of Brazil's independence from Portugal.
(AP)
Brushing off accusations of abusing Brazil's national day to bolster his reelection campaign, President Jair Bolsonaro has presided over massive, politically charged festivities, telling supporters that polls showing him trailing are "a lie."
Brazil is deeply divided heading into October's elections, with the far-right incumbent behind leftist ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in opinion polls, but looking determined to flex his muscle with an Independence Day show of strength, including military parades in Brasilia and Rio de Janeiro and rallies by his supporters across the country.
After taking in a giant procession of soldiers, tanks and tractors down the Esplanade of Ministries in Brasilia, Bolsonaro gave a fiery speech to a sea of green-and-yellow clad supporters massed in the capital on Wednesday.
The ex-army captain denounced polls from leading public opinion institute Datafolha — whose latest shows him trailing Lula 45 percent to 32 percent — as "a lie," and called the election campaign "a battle of good against evil."
"They won't return to the scene of the crime," he said, referring to the controversial corruption charges that have dogged Lula, the charismatic ex-metal worker who led Brazil from 2003 to 2010.
"The people are on our side — the side of good." READ MORE: Brazil's Bolsonaro rejects corruption claims as election looms
Brazil celebrated its bicentennial independence from Portugal, with colourful parades and military displays as the nation is bracing for the October presidential election.
(AP)
High-voltage rallies
Bolsonaro's open hostility toward the Supreme Court and electoral authorities was a recurring theme.
Last year on Brazil's national day, Bolsonaro caused controversy with a fiery speech saying "only God" could remove him from office and vowing to stop heeding rulings by Supreme Court Justice and top electoral official Alexandre de Moraes, whom the president considers an enemy.
That September 7, Bolsonaro supporters broke through a security cordon in Brasilia on the eve of the festivities and threatened to occupy the Supreme Court.
Critics accuse the president of blurring the line between his official duties and his campaign with the festivities.
The Bolsonaro camp has been highly active on social networks, urging supporters to turn out en masse for the day.
Bolsonaro's congressman son Eduardo raised eyebrows on Twitter Monday by calling on Brazilians "who have legally purchased guns" — a contingent his father has sought to expand with aggressive gun-control rollbacks — to enlist as "volunteers for Bolsonaro."
Such comments have added to fears of violence around the election if Bolsonaro, who regularly attacks Brazil's voting system as fraud-ridden — without evidence — follows in the footsteps of his political role model, former US president Donald Trump, and refuses to accept the result.
Lula apparently plans to keep a low profile on Wednesday, but has rallies scheduled for Thursday and a meeting with Evangelicals, a key voting bloc, on Friday.
READ MORE:Lula's lead over Bolsonaro narrows ahead of Brazil electionREAD MORE:Bolsonaro, Lula set to clash in Brazil election debate
Shortly before the start of the parade, the national anthem, independence anthem and flag anthem were played.
(AP)
Source: AFP
