Samba school’s Rio carnival parade honouring Brazil president Lula draws fire, lowest score

RIO DE JANEIRO – A carnival parade honouring Brazil’s president on Feb 18 came dead last in Rio de Janeiro’s fierce annual competition, as a political backlash grew over elements of the show that mocked conservatives.

The samba school Academicos de Niteroi, from a city neighbouring Rio, was relegated to the second division of the competition, which works like a football league.

Each year, the top 12 samba schools pick a theme which thousands of performers bring to life with towering floats, thundering drum sections and scantily clad samba queens, in the showpiece of Rio’s carnival.

Academicos’ choice to honour the life of Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva angered the opposition even before it took place, as images mocking former far-right leader Jair Bolsonaro appeared in technical rehearsals.

Political critics denounced the show – the first to honour a sitting president – amid early campaigning ahead of the October elections in which Mr Lula, 80, is seeking a fourth term.

Meanwhile, judges – who score everything from the storytelling to costumes, floats and choreography – were unimpressed with Academicos’ first showing among the elite schools.

Much of the parade depicted Mr Lula’s life in poverty in the arid north-east, his time as a shoeshine boy, metalworker and union leader, while paying tribute to his social welfare policies.

It also portrayed former Brazilian president Bolsonaro, who is serving a 27-year sentence for a failed coup attempt, as Bozo The Clown behind bars.

One aspect particularly enraged the right: performers dressed as a traditional family preserved in a tin can, in a segment entitled “preserved neoconservatives”.

This led to a flurry of social media posts of people publishing a picture of their own family in a tin can and slamming what they saw as an attack on Christian values.

The former Brazilian president’s son and political heir, Mr Flavio Bolsonaro, posted an image of the parade celebrating the samba school’s relegation.

“Those who attack the family do not deserve applause,” he said.

Mr Flavio Bolsonaro has vowed to appeal a decision by the electoral court, which last week rejected requests by two opposition parties to block the parade.

The court had warned it could still investigate after the show.

Pro-Bolsonaro lawmaker Nikolas Ferreira said on Feb 18 he would file a complaint with Rio’s prosecutor’s office about a parade that “went beyond the limits of political criticism and entered the dangerous territory of religious prejudice”.

Samba school Viradouro won its fourth title in the 2026 parade with a show honouring Mr Mestre Cica, the legendary leader of its percussion section. AFP