Lula and Flávio Bolsonaro Launch Campaigns in Symbolic Locations

President Lula and Flávio Bolsonaro have officially begun their campaigns with events in symbolic strongholds. Lula is scheduled to appear in São Bernardo do Campo in the metropolitan region of São Paulo at 9 a.m. while Flávio Bolsonaro will begin his activities on Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro at 10 a.m. Lula's event aims to recreate a historic image of him speaking from a table in a crowded stadium. This imagery recalls a strike in March 1979 when Lula was president of the Metalworkers Union of São Bernardo do Campo and Diadema. That strike paralyzed approximately 200,000 employees and helped project Lula nationally, eventually leading to the foundation of the Workers Party (PT) the following year. Former union leaders Djalma Bom and Nelson Campanholo, who helped found the PT, have expressed that the party has become too focused on internal power struggles and internet activity. They suggest the party needs to reconnect with social movements and physical community spaces. Political scientist Luciana Santana notes that while associating Lula's biography with labor struggles and redemocratization has strength, nostalgia may not be enough to convince voters given the party's history with the Mensalão and Lava Jato scandals.