One week after the historic victory of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in the second round of the 2026 elections, the National Union of Students is holding nationwide mobilizations this Sunday, November 1. The rallies were titled “Brazil with an ‘S’” (“Brasil com S”).
The actions came in response to statements made by supporters of defeated far-right Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, who questioned the election results. Beyond celebrating Lula’s win, the mobilizations also denounced and condemned the attacks against Indigenous peoples following the election.
According to Brazil’s largest Indigenous organization, the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil, APIB, there have been more than 30 reports of violence against Indigenous individuals since the election.
For Camila Moraes, secretary-general of the National Union of Students, the events that have unfolded since the election on Sunday, October 25, underscore the need for ongoing, permanent mobilization.
“Today must also be a day of struggle,” she told Brasil de Fato. “A day to denounce the attacks and threats that the far-right continues to pose to the Brazilian people. We are seeing this in the attacks against Indigenous peoples, workers, and students, which amount to clear political intimidation. That is why I believe it is essential that we remain in a state of permanent mobilization, occupying the streets and, above all, organizing ourselves politically.”
Mobilizations
The president of the National Union of Students, Bianca Borges, participated in the demonstration at Praça Roosevelt, in the city of São Paulo.
In a social media post, she emphasized the importance of sustained mobilization to ensure the stability of the Lula administration while also condemning the violence directed at Indigenous peoples following the election.
“We have also gathered to denounce serious instances of political violence, including those targeting Indigenous communities,” she wrote.
The ‘Brazil with an S’ mobilization took place this Sunday in Maceió, Manaus, Goiânia, Cuiabá, São Luís, Belém, Recife, Rio de Janeiro, Porto Alegre, São Paulo, Brasília, and Maringá.
