RIO DE JANEIRO
\nWhen Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva learned that a samba school in Rio de Janeiro would base its carnival parade this year on his journey from factory worker to president, he broke into tears and \u200bthen smiled for pictures holding the school\u2019s flag.
\nBut, as Rio\u2019s world-famous carnival parade approached, the tribute became a political headache.
\nOpposition parties and politicians have filed a flurry of lawsuits alleging that Lula is benefiting from what they describe as an illegal form of early campaigning ahead of this year\u2019s presidential election. The president hopes to be elected for his fourth nonconsecutive term in October.
\nCourts have already rejected all but one of the lawsuits, including one that asked judges to stop the parade from taking place. But more could be filed if critics believe politicians used the event, scheduled to happen on Sunday night, to ask for votes, which would be illegal.
\nStill, Lula is planning to watch samba school Academicos de Niteroi sing and dance to his and his mother\u2019s life stories on Sunday in Rio, his aides told \u200cReuters, but he won\u2019t \u200cbe speaking at any moment. The president\u2019s wife Rosangela \u201cJanja\u201d da Silva\u2019s plans to take part \u200bin \u200cthe parade are \u200bunder review, people familiar with the government\u2019s thinking told Reuters.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s not campaigning,\u201d said Tiago Martins, a carnival parade designer at Academicos de Niteroi. \u201cIt\u2019s a plot that tells the life story of a warrior of a man, who despite all obstacles got to the presidency.\u201d
\nCritics disagree, pointing, for example, to mentions of the number 13 in the song\u2019s lyrics, the same one that Lula and his Workers Party use on the ballot box.
\n\u201cThis is the kind of thing you see in a Soviet republic, in North Korea, an ode to the great leader,\u201d said lawmaker Marcel Van Hattem, a leader of the opposition Novo Party, which filed one of the lawsuits against Lula.
\nParty With Restraint, Ministers Are Told
\nThe parade designed by Academicos de Niteroi describes the president\u2019s childhood in the country\u2019s impoverished Northeastern region and his mother\u2019s journey to Sao \u200cPaulo with her children in search of a better life.
\n\u201cI saw myself in my \u200cchildren\u2019s eyes, frightened and empty. With my heart in pieces, I set out in \u200bsearch of love and of my dreams,\u201d the lyrics say.
\nArtists at \u200cAcademicos de Niteroi sought the president\u2019s authorization to use his life\u2019s story last year, before going forward with their plan. After they \u200creceived it, Lula welcomed Martins and other members of the samba school for a dinner at his Alvorada presidential residence in September.
\nAs they sang the song they had written for the parade, Lula became emotional and cried, people who were in the meeting told Reuters. He later described it as a tribute to his mother, Dona Lindu, rather than to himself.
\nLula\u2019s aides acknowledged the political sensitivity of the moment to Reuters. After the lawsuits multiplied, the president\u2019s team \u200cconsulted legal advisers to clarify what restrictions apply during the pre-campaign period.
\nMinisters attending the parade were instructed to remain seated in the audience, refrain from participating in the parade itself, avoid public funds for travel, and not make any election-related gestures, statements, or live posts on social media. Lula will not speak publicly at the parade.
\nOpposition says the tribute crosses legal lines
\nOpposition figures argue the precautions show the government knows the tribute crosses legal lines.
\nThey complain that Academicos de Niteroi received hundreds of thousands of dollars of public funds to do the parade.
\nBut government lawyers stressed that all of Rio\u2019s samba schools taking part in official parades received the same amount of resources and that funds are not tied to artistic choices.
\nAll cases have been thrown out because judges either agreed with the government\u2019s arguments or pointed to procedural issues. One case is still pending before the federal accounting court, though a preliminary ruling also rejected blocking funds to the parade.
\nWhile Lula has attended Rio\u2019s carnival parade before as president, it is not common for presidents to do so.
\nOne former president, Itamar Franco, famously got into trouble in the 1990s after being photographed next to a woman wearing no underwear at the parade.
\nFor Martins, the carnival parade designer, the political clash has overshadowed what, for him, is a deeply personal artistic achievement.
\n\u201cThe \u200bsamba says it: there are children of the poor \u200bbecoming doctors, and me, a child of the poor, becoming a carnival designer,\u201d he said.
\n\u201cWe wanted to tell the story of a man who did a lot for the poor and for Brazil.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
RIO DE JANEIRO When Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva learned that a samba school in Rio de Janeiro would base its carnival parade this year on his journey from factory worker to president, he broke into tears and \u200bthen smiled for pictures holding the school\u2019s flag. But, as Rio\u2019s world-famous carnival parade approached, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":531595,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-531582","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n