A governor, a president, and a mayor, united by something that affects all of us
Lula highlighted rare political unity across party lines, calling the image of federal, state, and local leaders working together 'something not seen in Brazil for a long time.' The three leaders coordinated housing reconstruction and humanitarian aid distribution, with federal ministries coordinating efforts and municipalities identifying safe building sites.
- Heavy rains caused destruction in coastal São Paulo; federal and state governments declared public calamity
- Lula interrupted vacation in Bahia to visit São Sebastião with Governor Tarcísio de Freitas and Mayor Felipe Augusto
- Three leaders coordinated housing reconstruction through federal ministries and humanitarian aid through a unified fund
- This was the fourth meeting between Lula and Tarcísio, a Bolsonaro-backed governor, since Lula took office
President Lula visited flood-affected São Sebastião with Governor Tarcísio and Mayor Felipe Augusto, emphasizing cross-party cooperation to address disaster recovery—a contrast to Bolsonaro's governance style.
The president arrived in São Sebastião on a day when the city was still counting its losses. Heavy rains had torn through the coastal region of São Paulo, destroying homes and lives, and both the federal government and the state had already declared the area a public calamity. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva came not from his office in Brasília but from a vacation in Bahia—he had interrupted his rest to be there. He brought with him the governor of São Paulo, Tarcísio de Freitas, a man elected with the backing of Bolsonaro, and the mayor of São Sebastião, Felipe Augusto. The three of them sat together at a table, and Lula made a point of it.
"I want to show you something you haven't seen in Brazil for a very long time," the president said, gesturing for the governor and mayor to move closer. "A governor, a president, and a mayor, sitting at the same table or standing at the same microphone, united by something that affects all of us." It was a deliberate image—three men from different political parties, different ideological camps, working together on a single problem. Lula called it "a good photograph for our country."
The contrast was unmistakable, though he did not name it directly. During his campaign and since taking office, Lula had promised that he would not punish governors and mayors from opposing political movements. He had said Brazil needed to "return to normalcy." His predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro, had spent four years in public conflict with various state leaders, creating fractures that ran through the machinery of government. Lula was showing something different: that democracy could function even when politicians belonged to rival parties, even when they thought differently about the world.
Before the public remarks, Lula had flown by helicopter over the damaged areas with his ministers. Then came the meeting with Tarcísio and Felipe Augusto, where they hammered out the practical details. Housing reconstruction would be coordinated by the federal Ministry of Integration and Regional Development and the Ministry of Cities, with the municipality responsible for finding land outside flood-prone zones. Humanitarian aid would flow through a single channel—the Social Solidarity Fund of São Paulo state and the municipality. It was the machinery of government working as it was supposed to work.
Lula also made a gesture toward the religious and conservative sectors that have long resisted the Workers' Party. He asked those who believed in God to pray—not for political victory or ideological triumph, but for the rain to stop, for a break in the weather so that reconstruction could begin. "I would like to ask those of us who believe in God to pray a little, not only for the victims, but to pray that it stops raining these days so we can have the conditions to work," he said. There was no public prayer, no ritual, just an acknowledgment that faith mattered to people in this moment of crisis.
This was Lula's fourth meeting with Tarcísio since taking office. They had gathered twice before in Brasília for meetings of state governors—once on January 9th, when the governors came to express support for the federal government, the Supreme Court, and Congress after the January 8th attacks on the capital, and again when governors presented their demands to the federal administration. They had also met privately at the Palácio do Planalto on January 11th. But this visit to São Sebastião was different. It was public, it was urgent, and it was about something that transcended party politics: the basic work of keeping people alive and rebuilding what the rain had destroyed.
The choice to interrupt his vacation and come to São Sebastião carried its own message. In December 2021, Bolsonaro had been on holiday in Santa Catarina when Bahia—governed by the Workers' Party—was hit by floods. He had said he hoped he would not have to return early from his break. The internet had called him a vagrant. Lula had learned the lesson. When disaster strikes, you show up. You stand with the people affected, regardless of which party runs their city or state. You make the work of government visible and shared.
Notable Quotes
I want to show you something you haven't seen in Brazil for a very long time—a governor, a president, and a mayor, sitting at the same table or standing at the same microphone, united by something that affects all of us.— President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
It is possible for us to exercise our function in democracy even when we belong to different parties or think differently ideologically.— President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why did Lula make such a point of the three of them standing together? It seems like a small thing.
Because it wasn't small. For four years under Bolsonaro, you had the president fighting with governors, creating public rifts, treating opposition-run states as enemies. Lula promised during his campaign that he would treat all governors fairly, that he would restore what he called "normalcy." But promises are cheap. By staging this moment—literally asking them to move closer to the microphone—he was showing, not telling.
And Tarcísio was elected with Bolsonaro's support, right?
Exactly. So this is Lula working with someone from the opposing camp, someone who owes his position partly to the man Lula defeated. If he can do that in a moment of crisis, it suggests the promise was real.
What about the prayer? That seemed like a different kind of gesture.
It was. The Workers' Party has always been secular, materialist in its orientation. Religious voters have been skeptical of them. But Lula didn't perform a prayer—he just asked people to pray if they believed. It's a way of saying: I see you, I respect what matters to you, even if it's not what matters to me.
And the vacation?
That's the clearest contrast with Bolsonaro. You interrupt your rest because people are suffering. It's a basic statement about what the job requires of you.
Do you think this moment will actually change how these three work together going forward?
It's hard to say. But they've now coordinated on something real—housing, aid distribution, the mechanics of recovery. They've done it together, publicly. That creates a foundation.