Brazil’s Bolsonaro seeks big turnout on national day

Slumping in the polls, Bolsonaro hopes to energise his far-right base as the threat of violence between supporters and opponents looms.

Fighting record-low poll numbers, a weakening economy and a judiciary he says is stacked against him, President Jair Bolsonaro called huge rallies for Brazilian independence day on Tuesday, seeking to fire up his far-right base. With polls putting Bolsonaro on track to lose badly to left-wing ex-leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in next year’s presidential elections, Bolsonaro is hoping to use the rally to energise his supporters. And September 7 is shaping up to be a turbulent day, with pro- and anti-Bolsonaro demonstrations scheduled in some of the country’s biggest cities.