'I'm back': Brazil's Lula fills leftist leadership void

Out of jail and full of rage, Brazil's Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has put his far-right nemesis President Jair Bolsonaro in the cross-hairs, as he takes up the mantle of leading the left.

Declaring "I'm back" in a fiery speech to hundreds of supporters near Sao Paulo on Saturday, Lula, 74, appeared energized by his year-and-a-half-long incarceration for corruption as he spoke for nearly an hour in the heat, a day after walking out of prison.

Ripping apart Bolsonaro's economic policies and accusing him of serving criminal groups in Rio de Janeiro, the former president signaled his intention to fill the left's leadership void and take them to victory in the 2022 election.

"The leader of the left has shown his willingness to use the most messianic version of himself to try to awaken a leftist opposition lacking ideas and leadership," the respected Folha de Sao Paulo daily said in an editorial on Monday.

Brazil's left has floundered since Lula's jailing in April 2018.

Without the charismatic leader at the helm, the Workers Party (PT) that Lula helped found nearly 40 years ago lost the 2018 election to far-right Bolsonaro and has been largely rudderless ever since.

Lula's release following a Supreme Court ruling on Thursday could change that, said Vinicius Vieira, a professor of international relations at the University of Sao Paulo. "He presents a great challenge in the midst of Bolsonaro's declining popularity," Vieira told AFP.

"Lula is able to mobilize a lot of people who recognize the PT's corruption, but also remember the benefits of economic growth, income growth during Lula's government." Known for his common touch, Lula plans to traverse the vast country, starting Sunday with a meeting in Recife, the capital of the northeastern state of Pernambuco, where he was born.

"Lula will eclipse Bolsonaro in the coming weeks and will be the focus of attention," said Thiago Vidal, a political analyst at Prospectiva consultancy.

"The question is how Bolsonaro and his government will react."