Flávio Bolsonaro Launches Presidential Campaign with Symbolic Rallies

Senator Flávio Bolsonaro of the Liberal Party (PL) will begin his official presidential campaign with a rally in Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro, on Sunday, September 16. Following this event, he is expected to travel to Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais, on Monday, September 17, the city where his father, former President Jair Bolsonaro, was stabbed during the 2018 campaign. The campaign strategy focuses on symbolic locations in Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais, and São Paulo. Other planned stops include Maceió, the hometown of his running mate Alfredo Gaspar, and the Festa do Peão de Barretos in São Paulo. Flávio Bolsonaro is also scheduled to meet with Governor Tarcísio de Freitas and evangelical leaders.

While both reports cover the same itinerary, they offer different interpretations of the strategy. A center leaning source frames the choice of Copacabana as an attempt to mobilize the memory of Jair Bolsonaro and present Flávio as a moderated version of his father to rescue a struggling base. This source notes that the strategy intensified following negative news regarding Flávio's ties to banker Daniel Vorcaro and internal party criticism. A center right leaning source frames the itinerary as a strategic focus on key electoral states and symbolic sites for the bolsonarista electorate. This source emphasizes the broader party coordination, noting that 27 of 33 PL Senate candidates support the impeachment of Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, a topic Flávio Bolsonaro mentioned during a press conference.

Simultaneously, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is scheduled to launch his own re-election campaign on Sunday at the 1º de Maio stadium in São Bernardo do Campo, São Paulo.