Rio de Janeiro (AFP)

Jesus born in a favela, tributes to indigenous peoples and black artists: the lavish carnival parades at the sambodrome in Rio begin Sunday evening, with a strong dose of contestation in addition to the rhinestones and glitter.

With their monumental floats that can measure more than ten meters and their thousands of dancers in costumes sometimes adorned with giant feathers, the schools of Rio will parade in turn overnight (seven Sunday and then six Monday) in front of 70,000 spectators and tens of millions of viewers.

Each school parades for 60 to 70 minutes and the jurors assign scores on very varied criteria, from the richness of the costumes to that of the floats, passing through the harmony with which the 3,000 members of each school evolve on the sambodrome, an avenue more than 700 m long with steps.

The defending champion, Mangueira, will be the third to appear on Sunday, with a parade that promises to be very committed: a Jesus "with a black face, indigenous blood and the body of a woman", born in a favela and preaching a message of tolerance.

The choice of this theme has attracted numerous criticisms from ultra-conservative groups, who have deemed it blasphemous.

Last year, Mangueira won her 20th title by criticizing the military dictatorship (1964/85) and by paying tribute to the black and lesbian municipal councilor Marielle Franco, murdered in March 2018.

This time, Mangueira's song is entitled "The truth will make you free", extracted from a biblical verse repeatedly cited by Jair Bolsonaro, who benefited from the massive support of the Evangelical Churches during his election in October 2018 .

"Mangueira represents the Jesus of the Gospel: the Jesus of love, the friend of the oppressed," Baptist pastor Henrique Vieira, a leftist activist and fervent opponent of Bolsonaro, said recently on Twitter, unlike the vast majority of members of evangelical churches.

He himself participated in the development of the parade, suggesting to the choreographers Biblical references.

- No more subsidy -

For the first time, the samba schools, which give all its splendor to the Brazilian carnival, will be presented without public subsidy from the town hall.

Since his election in 2016, Mayor Marcelo Crivella, evangelical pastor, has always snubbed the biggest popular festival in Brazil.

The subsidies, which amounted to two million reais per school in 2017 (around 625,000 euros at the average exchange rate for this year), were gradually reduced, until they disappeared this year.

Schools therefore had to reinvent themselves, with younger choreographers redoubling their creativity to deal with budgetary problems, notably recycling costumes or pieces of floats from previous years.

"This new generation makes carnival an art, but also a political party, committed", explains to AFP the historian Luiz Antonio Simas, author of many books on carnival.

- Defense of genes -

The most successful school in the Rio carnival with 22 trophies, Portela will discuss during the last parade on Sunday one of the most sensitive subjects under the Bolsonaro government: the indigenous question.

The theme chosen by the school in white and blue colors pays tribute to the Tupinamba people, who lived in Rio before the arrival of European colonizers.

"Our village does not bow to the captain," says a verse from Portela's song, a barely veiled reference to Jair Bolsonaro, a former army captain whose environmental policy is considered harmful by most of the indigenous people living in the Amazon.

Sao Clemente, who will open the ball on Monday, will evoke the false information that punctuated the presidential campaign of Bolsonaro.

Another highly anticipated parade will be that of Mocidade, a tribute to the legendary singer Elza Soares, 89, ex-wife of legendary footballer Garrincha, who has become an icon in the fight against racism and homophobia.

© 2020 AFP