British rock star Roger Waters has caused a stir in Brazil after calling the leading candidate in October’s presidential election a neo-fascist.
A big screen behind the stage at Waters’s concert in Sao Paulo on Tuesday showed the words “Resist neo-fascism” and then displayed a list of names — including that of Jair Bolsonaro.
The crowd of more than 40,000 fans at the Allianz Parque stadium was split, with some cheering the former Pink Floyd member while others booed.
Waters also displayed “Not Him” on the big screen, the slogan of a movement against the right-wing candidate.
Mr Bolsonaro won the first-round of Brazil’s presidential elections with 46%.
His adversary in the October 28 run-off will be left-leaning Fernando Haddad, who had 29%.
Waters is touring in Brazil until October 30.
INCREDIBLE SOLD OUT FIRST NIGHT IN SÃO PAULO, THANK YOU! SEE YOU TOMORROW NIGHT @AllianzParque #usandthemtour #rogerwaters pic.twitter.com/YYEg9g7Q5W
— Roger Waters (@rogerwaters) October 10, 2018
One day before the run-off, he is scheduled to be in Curitiba, where former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is jailed on a corruption conviction. Da Silva hand-picked Mr Haddad as the presidential candidate for his Workers’ Party.
Brazilians spent months going to Mr Waters’ social media channels calling for him to include Mr Bolsonaro’s name on his list of purported neo-fascists.
The list includes US President Donald Trump, former Ukip leader Nigel Farage and Hungarian Prime-Minister Viktor Orban, among others.
Mr Bolsonaro is the only Latin American on Waters’ list.
Several Bolsonaro voters put their tickets on sale for the next Waters concerts, while more than 2,800 comments had been posted on the singer’s Facebook page debating the criticism of Mr Bolsonaro.
“Roger Waters, just sing your song. Don’t put your finger where you don’t know,” said one post. “When you go to another country don’t talk about politics, you don’t know anything about Brazil or what happens in the country.”
Another replied: “What is the matter of losing a fan that has never paid attention to his lyrics and on his values? Bolsonaro is against everything that Roger and Pink Floyd was for. It’s time to stand against xenophobia, racism, sexism, homophobia and authoritarianism.”