Presidential candidates Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) and Flávio Bolsonaro (PL) had public engagements this Saturday (10) in Natal and Rio de Janeiro, respectively.
At a packed rally in the capital of Rio Grande do Norte, Lula drew comparisons between investments made in the Northeast region under right-wing and left-wing governments.
"You know what the Northeast was like before the PT won the Presidency. And you know what it became after we won," said the president, who is running for reelection, alongside Governor Fátima Bezerra, candidate for state governor Cadu de Lula, and the elected governors of Ceará, Elmano de Freitas; Bahia, Jerônimo Rodrigues; Piauí, Rafael Fontes; and Lucas Ribeiro, of Paraíba.
"The Pé de Meia program was a revolution we made to ensure that 500,000 young people would not drop out of high school, to help with the family budget. All of this they will cut. Because education in this country has never interested the Brazilian elite."
Natal (RN), 10/10/2026 - President of the Republic, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, during a campaign event in Natal: the event "Lula in Rio Grande do Norte: The Brazil Ready for More," held at the intersection of Baraúna Street and Cel. Estevam. Photo: Ricardo Stuckert/Lula Oficial
Lula questioned where the cuts that would result in the R$ 250 billion austerity proposal, publicly presented by Flávio, would come from. The PL candidate's campaign denies that cuts will focus on social programs.
"I don't know anyone from the Brazilian elite who has governed this country who had the courage to cut from the rich, from the bankers, from businesspeople, from the financial system, from the landowners. They always cut from the poor," Lula stated.
When commenting specifically on the conflict between the United States and Iran, Lula highlighted that the war in the Middle East brought "extraordinary damage" to the entire world.
"In Brazil, today, gasoline has gone down because we are using money from the oil that Petrobras exports. We are subsidizing so that the price of the war does not reach the Brazilian people, does not reach the people's beans, the people's bread, the people's milk."
In São Gonçalo, in the metropolitan region of Rio de Janeiro, the PL candidate for President of the Republic, Flávio Bolsonaro, took part in a large motorcycle caravan and stated that he will "bring more technology, jobs, and development to the entire population of Rio de Janeiro state."
"I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart. I am here body and soul, in God's hands and in your arms, to change the destiny of our nation," said Flávio Bolsonaro, alongside candidate for governor of Rio de Janeiro, Douglas Ruas.
During the event, Flávio also declared that, if elected, he wishes to receive the presidential sash from the hands of his father, Jair Bolsonaro, who is imprisoned and sentenced to twenty-seven years for the attempted coup against Brazilian democracy.
In the early afternoon, in Rio de Janeiro, Flávio Bolsonaro took part in an event with women and stated that, if elected, he will pay attention to atypical mothers.
"There will not be a single day in Rio de Janeiro that you will not hear about inclusion," he said, alongside the elected vice-governor of Rio de Janeiro, Fernanda Louback, and Daniella Marques, coordinator of the Brazil for Women axis in the PL presidential candidate's government plan.
São Gonçalo (RJ), 10/10/2026 - Candidate for president of Brazil, Flávio Bolsonaro, during an event in São Gonçalo. Photo: Charles Vieira/Campanha Flávio Bolsonaro
Inclusion
According to Flávio, just like the policy for women, inclusion policies will be present in all ministries. "A transversal policy will be in education, it will be in security, in social assistance, in tourism, everywhere," he stated.
Flávio has been questioned about policies for women, since during his father's government the ministry dedicated to women came to also encompass family and human rights issues. Other ministries, such as Culture and Sports, were abolished.
In the area of inclusion, the Jair Bolsonaro government published a decree (10.502/2020) that was later suspended by the Supreme Federal Court (STF) due to the risk of weakening school inclusion, by directing people with disabilities exclusively to special schools.