This year, beyond the rhinestones and glitter, the samba schools of Rio de Janeiro did not scrimp on political messages during the traditional carnival, with in particular more or less veiled criticism of the far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro.
Police violence, racial or sexual discrimination, corruption, environmental disasters: everything went there for this edition of the carnival which was held when Jair Bolsonaro was in power for more than a year.
During the night of Monday to Tuesday, the approximately 3,000 dancers and the monumental floats of the school of Sao Clemente opened fire with a parade which denounced the flood of false information that punctuated the election of the president at the end of 2018 and the corruption cases in his former party as well as suspicion against one of his sons. Perched on a chariot, the humorist Marcelo Adnet, disguised as Jair Bolsonaro, imitated the characteristic gesture of the hand of the head of state mimicking a weapon, in front of signs displaying the tics of presidential language.
O @MarceloAdnet é um gênio. So is queria dizer mesmo.
pic.twitter.com/OFfBVRqhCH
Denunciation of police operations
Deprived of subsidies by the evangelical mayor of Rio, Marcelo Crivella, who hardly tastes the sensual exuberance of the biggest party in the world, the samba schools, practically all created in favelas, had to storm creativity this year, sometimes recycling Carnival 2019 floats.
The 13 schools competing during the two nights of parade competed for the coveted title of champion which will be announced Wednesday. The reigning champion, Mangueira, left a lasting impression on the night of Sunday to Monday with a parade depicting a black Jesus coming to bring peace to a favela where he dances with his disciples until the brutal intervention of the police armed with batons.
Several schools have denounced the police operations that left more than 1,800 killed last year, or about five people a day, under a government that promised to reduce the endemic violence in Brazil.
"For a better Brazil"
With his black-skinned Jesus, Mangueira had already created controversy even before the parade, an online petition from ultraconservatives, very much in court today in Brasilia, having asked for the ban on his parade for "blasphemy". Another school, Grande Rio, took religious tolerance as its theme, with floats extolling Afro-Brazilian beliefs.
Fight for diversity and the rights of the oppressed, blacks, women or LGBT community, the last samba schools hit the nail on the night from Monday to Tuesday, in a country which has led an openly misogynistic and homophobic president and accused of racism.
Once a year, "Carnival is joy for everyone, people suffer so much and work so much," says Marcelo Tchetchelo de Castro, dancer from Sao Clemente. "At the same time, it's time for us to pass on the messages for everyone's awareness, for a better Brazil".
The carnival drew on the indigenous roots of Brazil. The most successful school, Portela, with 22 trophies, paid tribute to the Tupinamba natives the night before. "Our village does not bow to the captain," said the school song, a transparent reference to former army captain Jair Bolsonaro, accused of being insensitive to the rights of indigenous populations.
Other schools have talked about deforestation in the Amazon, which doubled in 2019, the first year of the Bolsonaro government.
With AFP
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