Rio carnival gets political in Bolsonaro’s Brazil

RIO DE JANEIRO: Rio de Janeiro kicks off its annual carnival parades Sunday, the first of two nights of glittering, over-the-top spectacle set to pack a heavy dose of political commentary on Brazil´s far-right President Jair Bolsonaro.

Vying for the title of carnival champions, the city´s 13 top samba schools will have one hour each to wow spectators and judges with elaborate shows flush with scantily clad dancers, small armies of drummers and floats built on seemingly impossible feats of engineering.

The event is shaping up to be especially political after a year under Bolsonaro, who has deeply divided Brazil with his attacks on just about every cause close to the carnival community´s heart: diversity, homosexuality, environmentalism, the arts.

Reigning champions Mangueira are planning a show about Jesus returning to Earth in one of Rio´s impoverished favela neighborhoods with "a black face, Indian blood and a woman´s body," in the words of its central samba song. That has already drawn backlash from a key group of Bolsonaro supporters: evangelical Christians, who sent Mangueira a petition calling the show "blasphemous."

Mangueira entitled its show "The Truth Will Set You Free," quoting -- with a heavy dose of irony -- a Bible verse often cited by Bolsonaro.

"In these times, when some are preaching a belligerent, intolerant and controlling Jesus, Mangueira is bringing back the Jesus of the gospel: loving, friendly, a companion of the oppressed and builder of peace," said leftist theologian and Baptist pastor Henrique Vieira, who advised the samba school on its show.

The most successful school in the history of the contest, Portela, will pay tribute to Brazil´s indigenous Tupinamba people, who lived in Rio de Janeiro before the Portuguese colonizers arrived.