In Brazil, less than 50 days before a very polarized ballot, the two favorites for the presidential election enter the track on Tuesday.

Lula and Jair Bolsonaro officially launch their campaign in places that have had a profound impact on their political careers.

Favorite in the polls, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, 76, will visit a Volkswagen factory in the afternoon in his stronghold of Sao Bernardo do Campo, near Sao Paulo, an industrial area where he was a turner-miller, before becoming union leader.

Jair Bolsonaro will travel to Juiz de Fora, in Minas Gerais, where he had been close to death in a stabbing attack four years ago.

Enhanced security around candidates

The current president, a 67-year-old former army captain, wanted to push the symbolism down to the smallest detail: he will deliver his speech at midday on a platform set up on the same crossroads where he had been stabbed by an imbalance on September 6, 2018.

Security around the main candidates in the election whose first round will take place on October 2 has also been considerably reinforced to avoid any incident.

Lula and Bolsonaro no longer travel without bulletproof vests and crowds are strictly controlled.

The left-wing ex-president should also have launched his campaign this Tuesday morning in another factory, in Sao Paulo, but the event was canceled, the team in charge of his security having identified potential risks.

The visit to Sao Bernardo do Campo is no less emblematic.

"Lula has always gone there during the key moments of his political career, to reinforce his image as a representative of the workers", explains Adriano Laureno, political analyst at the consultancy firm Prospectiva.

“As for Bolsonaro, he wants to present himself as a” chosen by God “who survived the attack” of 2018, continues this specialist, for whom this election is “the most polarized since the redemocratization” after the military dictatorship (1964 -1985).

An enthronement that will not please Bolsonaro

The two favorites have already been crisscrossing the country for several weeks to get in touch with voters, but the official campaign, with meetings and distribution of leaflets, is only authorized from this Tuesday.

The TV spots will only be aired from August 26.

This Tuesday will also be marked in the early evening by the enthronement of Judge Alexandre de Moraes as President of the Superior Electoral Court (TSE).

This Supreme Court magistrate is one of President Bolsonaro's pet peeves, against whom he ordered the opening of an investigation for disseminating false information about the electoral system.

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