Since right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro took office in January 2019, Brazilians have been sharply divided, with supporters crediting the former army captain for a rapid drop in violent crime and an improving economy, while his detractors have denounced what they consider racism, sexism and disrespect for the poor.
Along with a clutch of conservative allies, including Rio de Janeiro’s evangelical mayor Marcelo Crivella, Bolsonaro has shown little interest in Carnival and at times denounced what he sees at debauched behavior during the festivities.
To be sure, most partiers on Saturday were dressed in distinctly apolitical garb, ranging from mermaid to cowboy costumes, indicating Brazilians were focused on revelry first, and politics a distant second.
But In Brazil’s biggest cities, there was no love lost, as many costumes poked fun at the nation’s leaders.
Early on Saturday morning, the Tom Maior samba school, a type of performing troupe with a central role in Brazil’s Carnival, paid homage during their performance to Marielle Franco, a black, lesbian Rio de Janeiro city councilwoman whose 2018 assassination sparked protests throughout the country.
“I thought it was beautiful, it really moved me,” said Renato Santos Aguessy, a 37-year-old schoolteacher, who was in attendance. “She left a legacy for us of struggle, of confronting adversities in this country, which is being dominated by fascism.”
In the northeastern city of Recife, home to one of the country’s most famous Carnival celebrations, musician Antonio Nobrega dedicated an opening performance to Brazil’s artists and journalists. Both of those groups have repeatedly drawn ire from Brazil’s political leaders, with politicians often singling out individual journalists and newspapers for criticism.
The famed Mangueira samba school in Rio de Janeiro has already ruffled feathers with plans to march through the city’s legendary Sambodromo on Sunday night with a performance expected to take jabs at police violence in Brazil.
Under Bolsonaro, homicide rates have plummeted in Rio de Janeiro, but killings by police have sky-rocketed, sparking a major debate about policing tactics, particularly in poor and minority communities.
Still, the government has plenty of support in major cities, particular in Rio de Janeiro, where the Bolsonaro family maintains a firm base of support.
