Politics · Brazil · 1 hr ago
UNE president says Lula's campaign discouraged student protests
UNE president Bianca Borges says Lula's campaign discouraged student protests after Brazil's first-round election results in 2026.
Borges says campaign and government figures feared protests could backfire, recalling the 2018 “Ele não” movement against Jair Bolsonaro.
Student demonstrations began gathering strength after the first round, with an event at Fluminense Federal University in Niterói on October 5.
Borges says the UNE counted more than 100 student events between the rounds, including 40 assemblies and 40 demonstrations in the first week.
Lula later joined a demonstration on São Paulo's Paulista Avenue on October 11, after the campaign came to see the protests as historically important.
The demonstrations helped bring people into the campaign, according to Borges, who says they were decisive in Lula's re-election against Flávio Bolsonaro.
She hopes the next government will learn that calling people into the streets and governing alongside them matters.
UNE president Bianca Borges says members of Lula’s campaign and government discouraged the student group from holding protests after Brazil’s first-round election.
Borges says they feared demonstrations could backfire and become a new “Ele não” (“Not him”) movement.
Student protests grew after an event at the Federal Fluminense University in Niterói on October 5, and Borges says there were more than 100 student events between the rounds.
Lula joined a protest on Paulista Avenue on October 11, after the campaign came to see the demonstrations as historically significant, according to Borges.
Borges says the protests helped drive the shift that led to Lula’s re-election against Flávio Bolsonaro.
- Who
- Bianca Borges, president of the National Union of Students (UNE), says campaign and government figures discouraged the group from protesting.
- What
- Borges says student protests were discouraged after Brazil’s first-round election, despite their role in supporting Lula’s re-election campaign.
- When
- After the first round of Brazil’s 2026 election and before the second round.
- Where
- Brazil. The first cited protest was at the Federal Fluminense University in Niterói, and Lula later joined one on Paulista Avenue.
- Why
- Borges says officials feared protests could backfire like the 2018 “Ele não” movement and argued that students would already vote for Lula.
Lula campaign and government figures
UNE and its president
Reason to hold protests
Lula campaign and government figures
They reportedly warned that demonstrations could backfire and become a new “Ele não” movement.
UNE and its president
Borges says popular mobilization with a clear message could help energize a subdued campaign.
Students’ role
Lula campaign and government figures
They reportedly argued students already would vote for Lula and did not need to demonstrate.
UNE and its president
Borges says protests helped people feel responsible for and part of the campaign.
A protest at the Federal Fluminense University in Niterói helped the student mobilization gain strength, one day after the first round.
Borges says 40 university assemblies and 40 protests were recorded.
Lula joined a protest on Paulista Avenue after, according to Borges, the campaign came to see the demonstrations as historically significant.
- UNE president
- Bianca Borges
- UNE term
- 2025–2027
- First cited protest
- October 5, 2026, at the Federal Fluminense University in Niterói
- First-week events
- 40 university assemblies and 40 protests
- Student events
- More than 100 between the first and second rounds
- October 11 protest
- Paulista Avenue, São Paulo
1 source
What people are saying
Governing alongside the people, calling the people into the streets is fundamental. I hope this lesson has been learned for the next government.
A rather simplistic way of thinking.
This is a new “Ele não.” You should not hold the demonstration, because students are already going to vote for Lula.