Brazil’s Lula announces higher welfare payments and free weight-loss jabs ahead of election

O presidente do Brasil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, candidato à reeleição pelo Partido dos Trabalhadores (PT), fala em um comício de campanha em Brasília, Brasil, em 16 de setembro de 2026.

Prefer the Guardian on GoogleBrazil’s president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has announced a 15% increase in the country’s main cash-transfer programme for poor families, as well as free weight-loss jabs, prompting criticism from opponents who say the moves are electorally motivated just two weeks before the presidential election.

On 4 October, the leftwing incumbent will face the far-right senator Flávio Bolsonaro, son of the former president Jair Bolsonaro, who has been gaining ground in recent weeks.

The rise in the monthly payment, from about £98 to £113, that he announced on Thursday is due to take effect on 19 October, just before the likely runoff vote on 25 October.

The increase is expected to benefit between 15% and 20% of voters in what promises to be one of the closest ever presidential races in Latin America’s largest country.

Lula disse que não se tratava realmente de um aumento, mas de um ajuste alinhado à inflação para “proteger o poder de compra das famílias mais vulneráveis”, mas seus opositores criticaram o timing tão próximo das eleições.

Flávio Bolsonaro called it an “act of desperation” after polls showed him gaining ground – although the most recent survey, released on Thursday night, still showed Lula numerically ahead despite the technical tie.

The senator added that Lula was trying to “buy the votes of the poor”.

Criado em 2003 durante seu primeiro mandato como presidente, o programa, chamado Bolsa Família, foi uma política de transferência de renda de destaque que ajudou a tirar milhões de famílias da pobreza durante seus dois primeiros mandatos.

The programme has long been fiercely criticised by rightwing politicians, including by Jair Bolsonaro, although he kept it in place during his presidency.

Na véspera das eleições de 2022, Bolsonaro anunciou um aumento de 50% no pagamento mensal, levando a campanha de Lula a protocolar um processo junto ao tribunal eleitoral, alegando abuso de poder político e uso eleitoral da máquina estatal.

The similarities have sparked a debate between those who say Lula is doing the same thing Bolsonaro did four years ago, and others who argue that the two cases are different.

The journalist Miriam Leitão wrote for O Globo that although both Bolsonaro and Lula made the adjustments “out of electoral interest”, the current incumbent’s increase is in fact limited to inflation over the past four years, during which there had been no adjustment.

Ela também observou que o aumento de Bolsonaro tinha data de validade – precisamente no final do período eleitoral – enquanto o de Lula é permanente.

Victor Escobar, a researcher at the Laboratory of Parties, Elections and Comparative Politics, agreed. He said that although Lula, like his predecessor, is also being criticised for unveiling a package of benefits on the eve of the election – including a promise to distribute weight-loss jabs free of charge through the public health system – Bolsonaro’s measures were “even more irresponsible from a budgetary point of view”.

Escobar acknowledged that Lula’s intention was also electoral, but said that, as long as the measures comply with the law, “it’s something entirely expected when we’re talking about an incumbent running for re-election, who will try to use the legal mechanisms available to improve their voting numbers”.

Alguns especialistas em lei eleitoral disseram que um ajuste inflacionário não é, em princípio, proibido, mas outro candidato de extrema-direita, o influenciador Renan Santos, protocolou uma ação junto ao tribunal eleitoral buscando suspender o aumento até que o presidente eleito assuma o cargo.

Embora crítico da medida, Flávio Bolsonaro não fez o mesmo, supostamente por preocupação com o impacto que tal movimento poderia ter entre os eleitores que se beneficiam do programa.