President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s presidential campaign held its final mobilization on Saturday afternoon, October 24, drawing supporters to Avenida Paulista in São Paulo for an open-air car parade spanning roughly 1.2 kilometers between Alameda Campinas and Alameda Haddock Lobo, as reported by Folha de S.Paulo.
Negotiating the Perimeter and the Metrô Dispute
Days before the gathering, campaign coordinators negotiated logistics with the São Paulo state government, municipal authorities, and the electoral court. The planning hit a friction point over urban infrastructure protection. According to Kiko Celeguim, federal deputy and coordinator for the campaign, organizers had contracted a private firm on the night of Friday, October 23, to install iron protective panels around the entrances of the Consolação and Trianon-Masp subway stations.
The installation followed an agreement reached during an October 20 security meeting between campaign representatives, the São Paulo Metro Company, and the Military Police. However, Celeguim stated that the third-party company received an abrupt phone call from Metro employees ordering them to halt the work and remove the already mounted material.
Celeguim explained that the party complied with the Metro’s directive under the impression that state authorities would handle the property protection directly.
Demands for Police Transparency and Body Cameras
To guard against potential clashes, the campaign submitted an official request to the São Paulo Military Police on Friday, October 23, demanding that all deployed officers keep their body-worn cameras actively recording throughout the event. Marco Aurélio Carvalho, an attorney representing the campaign via the Prerrogatives group, emphasized the necessity of accountability during a morning press conference covered by Metrópoles.
Pedimos para que a polícia, e isso é importante para vocês que estão nos acompanhando, utilizem as câmeras corporais, que a Polícia de São Paulo utiliza, infelizmente, vez ou outra de forma seletiva, durante todo o andamento do evento. É fundamental que as câmeras permaneçam ligadas, afirmou Marco Aurélio Carvalho.
The campaign also demanded clear identification tags on all active-duty troops to prevent unrecorded altercations, citing instances of perceived aggressiveness by specific officers during prior political gatherings. In response, the São Paulo State Secretariat of Public Security (SSP) reported that the Military Police deployed a pre-determined workforce equipped with portable operational cameras, adhering to standard corporate protocols for large-scale public concentrations.
Lawyers Patrol Avenida Paulista as Political Figures Join March
Alongside security adjustments, the political camp mobilized a network of allied attorneys to patrol Avenida Paulista during the march. These legal professionals remained stationed across the thoroughfare to answer questions from citizens and police authorities alike, aiming to de-escalate disputes before small issues escalated into major confrontations.
The demonstration brought together prominent national figures alongside the incumbent president. Geraldo Alckmin, running for re-election, joined the open-top vehicle procession alongside former ministers Fernando Haddad, Marina Silva, Simone Tebet, and Márcio França. Newly elected federal and state lawmakers, digital influencers, and other political leaders also walked the route between the Masp and the Praça do Ciclista.
