Throughout the Brazilian capital, Brasilia, you can find towel sellers with the faces of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and former president and candidate Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, side by side with the faces of football clubs such as Flamengo, as well as Palmeiras and Corinthians coached by the Portuguese Abel and Vitor Pereira respectively.

“Sell more flamengo, but then it will be Lula,” says Lusa Edson, raising his hand in the shape of the letter L, a symbol that has become famous in Brazil in support of Lula.

His “post” near Rodoviária do Plano Piloto is attended by thousands of workers from satellite towns who are less wealthy and therefore prefer Lulu in most cases, he explains.

Even because, according to him, closer to Tres Poderes Square, in three monumental buildings representing the three powers of the Brazilian Republic, Bolsonaro’s towel wins because there are many tourists who come in groups dressed in the yellow jersey of the Brazilian team. , a symbol that was “captured” by the campaign headquarters of the President of Brazil.

The politicization of everyday life in Brazil, as Thiago Trindade, professor of political science at the University of Brasilia explains to Luce, is the result of “the charismatic dimension of the political personality, both Lula and Bolsonaro, who manage to mobilize a broader base.” enthusiastic [envolvida] and in love.”

“You can only mobilize people around a cause if you can touch their feelings, if you can mobilize their emotions,” he emphasizes.

However, Thiago Trindade recalls that “this is a more or less general characteristic of political struggle, or rather guerrilla” in countries where this logic also took place, and sometimes “even more intense”, as in the United States and the United Kingdom.

He summarizes that Brazil has its own existence of two figures who convey “passions, projects, beliefs and worldviews that are sensitive points” in some sectors of society.

In one of these quadrants are music artists: in recent months, there has been an exponential increase in political demonstrations by Brazilian artists.

“Fora Bolsonaro”, “Lulalá” or “Fora o communismo” have become common phrases in music shows, samba clubs and clubs across the country.

The most high-profile cases in recent times, apart from Annitta’s endorsement of Lula this week, were singer Daniela Mercury and country singer Gustavo Lima, with mutual accusations of public money related to the “show” of the artists.

In Brasilia, the announcer of the “show” Gustavo Lima, addressing thousands of fans at the symbolic stadium named after Mane Garrinchi, threw phrases such as “God, country and family”, “communism will never be here”, “freedom of thought, freedom of action, freedom of speech , freedom of being on the Internet, freedom of expression”, recurring themes of Bolsonaro.

According to Thiago Trindade, sertanejo “has a social field that is very glued to certain political values, social values, lifestyle, very close to the prospect of a political project of agribusiness, large estate, large rural property. , farm.

“This camp is based on a very firm principle that it cannot give up what is a sacred right to private property, and it sees in PT and Lula (…) a group of communists who want to take away private property from them.”, details.

“This is a fact and this is happening concretely, now I ask the question: is it Bolsonaro, are these people loyal to Bolsonaro or are they loyal to the anti-PT movement,” he asks.

For a professor at the University of Brasilia, Bolsonaro adds a conservative and largely authoritarian field, a field “political that fits with military dictatorship, advocates torture, says that a good criminal is a dead criminal,” among other things.

And on the other hand, Lula, who “mobilizes the field of social forces more associated with this type of banner, such as the defense of democracy, human rights, democratic freedoms, the defense of labor before capital,” he concludes. .

By all polls, Bolsonaro’s re-election in October’s presidential election is an uphill battle, as he has so far accounted for about 30% of voting intent, compared to 45% for former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.