Sawt Falasteen - Thousands show support for coup-accused Bolsonaro at Rio rally

Bolsonaro, 69, has called for a million-strong demonstration on the famous beach in a show of strength ahead of elections next year in which he hopes to be a contender.

Brazil's 2019-2022 president is hoping to emulate US President Donald Trump's political comeback.

"I am here because I want to leave a better Brazil for my children. We are living in a dark time," 64-year-old former military officer Jose de Souza Vitorino, who was among the demonstrators, told AFP.

On the stage, where Bolsonaro was due to give a speech, a banner showed Trump with his fist raised following the attempt on his life on the campaign trail last year in Pennsylvania.

The rally's stated purpose is to demand amnesty for hundreds convicted over the January 8, 2023 riots in the capital Brasilia, when Bolsonaro backers stormed the presidential palace, Congress and Supreme Court.

The demonstrators demanded that the military oust leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who had defeated arch-rival Bolsonaro in the October 2022 elections and had been sworn in just a week earlier.

The violent rampage evoked the storming of the US Capitol building in Washington by Trump's supporters almost exactly two years earlier.

Prosecutors believe the riots were part of a criminal plot hatched by the then-former president Bolsonaro to overthrow Lula and return to power.

On March 25, Brazil's Supreme Court will consider whether there is sufficient evidence to try Bolsonaro, who risks a prison term of more than 40 years.

- 'Send a message' -

Dubbed the "Trump of the Tropics," Bolsonaro -- like his political muse -- claims to be the victim of political persecution aimed at excluding him from seeking a second term in 2026 presidential elections.

He has been declared ineligible to hold public office until 2030 for having made unsubstantiated claims of fraud in Brazil's electronic voting system, but is hoping to have the ban overturned to make a Trump-like comeback.

Independent political analyst Andre Rosa told AFP the real purpose of calling for protests Sunday was so Bolsonaro can "send a message to his competitors on the right... and reaffirm his intention to be a candidate in 2026."

"For now, I am a candidate," Bolsonaro told journalists in Brasilia this week.

There are also continuity concerns in Lula's camp, with worry over the 79-year-old president's health and his popularity dragged down by consumer inflation.

G.AbuHamad--SF-PST