Check out the presidential candidates’ day

The candidates for the second presidential round, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Jair Bolsonaro, had appointments this Saturday (8). Bolsonaro participated in the river procession of the Círio de Nazaré, in Belém. The participation of the current president in the event was foreseen in the official agenda of the Presidency of the Republic. Lula was campaigning in the city of Campinas (SP).

In the river procession of the Círio de Nazaré, in Belém, the president followed the navy ship, which also carried the image of Our Lady of Nazaré and did not make statements to the press. He arrived in the capital of Pará on Friday night (7), when he was greeted at the airport by hundreds of supporters. After broadcasting its traditional live via social networks, still on Friday, the president visited the 23rd edition of SuperNorte, an event held by the Association of Supermercadists of Pará (Aspas).

During a visit to Campinas (SP), Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva stated that the democratic debate is part of the solution to the problems that the country is going through. In this sense, he said that he has sought dialogue with groups that did not support him. For the candidate, education, science and technology will be fundamental for the development and recomposition of the national industry. He also said that Brazil has a lot to gain from keeping trees standing, rather than cutting them down.

Lula stated that, in order to maintain the identity of traditional peoples, he will create the Ministry of Native Peoples and that the National Indian Foundation (Funai) will have an indigenous person at the head. “Indigenous health can also be taken care of by indigenous people, because many of them are already trained,” he said.

“No one needs to cut down a tree in the Amazon to plant or raise cattle. We have more than 30 million hectares of degraded pasture areas. We have to recover that area. Instead of cutting down trees, we will make money preserving them, because low carbon agriculture allows Brazil to receive help from other countries”.

When talking about another ministry he intends to create – that of Culture – Lula said that in each capital of the country there will be a cultural committee. “Culture has to be understood as an extraordinary industry that generates jobs and distributes income. Culture has to work again”, he said, asking his voters not to fall for provocations on the streets, and to be vigilant to denounce lies spread on social networks.

The candidate said that the solution to current problems involves dialogue and that only democracy is capable of providing. “I have talked to everyone. With economists from various parties and from various hues of universities, not least because the art of governing this country – and the solution – will not be the work of one man or one party only”, he said.

*Reporters Pedro Peduzzi and Vladimir Platonow collaborated