Comprehensive Scoring Analysis

Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva speaks during a ceremony to mark the third anniversary of Bolsonaro's fail…

The face of the Brazilian president is omnipresent as a samba school rehearses its Carnival parade in front of thousand…

Academicos de Niteroi will be the first to parade down Rio de Janeiro’s Sambodrome on February 15, at the start of the …

Twelve samba schools will compete in parades featuring thousands of participants, with colossal, often animated floats,…

Each year the schools choose a theme linked to Brazilian culture, history, or popular figures.

While Academicos argues it wants to honour Lula to thank him for his social welfare policies, the opposition has denoun…

Lula, 80, who is expected to attend the parade as a spectator, is seeking a fourth term in the October elections.

“This is not propaganda, it’s a tribute.

Many people in our school were able to get an education thanks to the president’s public policies,” Hamilton Junior, on…

Read moreBrazil's Lula vetoes law reducing prison time for Bolsonaro ‘One of Brazil’s greatest presidents’ Junior said …

During technical rehearsals at the Sambodrome – which draw large crowds – dancers dressed as steelworkers in reference …

The lyrics of the song recount Lula’s poor childhood in rural Pernambuco, his move to Sao Paulo, his union activism, an…

There is no mention of the October election, but the song does not shy away from Brazil’s current political scene.

It refers to “tariffs and sanctions” imposed by US President Donald Trump to punish Brazil for putting his ally, former…

Trump has since lifted many of these measures.

The song also includes the phrase “no amnesty”, a nod to efforts by Bolsonaro’s supporters to reduce a 27-year prison s…

A large screen mounted on the back of a truck displayed images mocking Bolsonaro – showing him in a prison uniform or w…

Bolsonaro has anointed his eldest son, Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, as his political heir and presidential candidate.

Read moreA rollercoaster year in US–Brazil relations Opposition complains One of the composers of the samba told local …

Centre-right lawmaker Kim Kataguiri filed a lawsuit demanding Academicos return the one million reais ($180,000) each o…

“It is unacceptable that the president sends one million reais, and even worse in an election year, to a samba school t…

Lawmakers from the right-wing Partido Novo asked Brazil’s Federal Court of Auditors to block the funding.

A senator allied with Bolsonaro demanded that the courts prohibit the television broadcast of the parade.

The Brazilian agency for the promotion of international tourism, Embratur, which provides the funds, said in a statemen…

Watching the rehearsal, Adriano Santos, a 43-year-old social worker from the Rocinha favela, said the samba school was …

“There will be those who it and those who don’t, but I believe this parade will represent Brazil.

” (FRANCE 24 with AFP)