Lula tells the Financial Times that he ‘goes to heaven’ if he solves hunger and poverty in Brazil

Presidential candidate Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) told the British newspaper Financial Times that if he wins the October elections, his immediate priority will be to improve social conditions in Brazil.

Asked by the vehicle if he can kill the demons of hunger and poverty, the former president replies that if he achieves this feat, he “goes to heaven”.

In the interview, PT said that he is committed to fiscal responsibility and highlighted that credibility, predictability and stability are the three “magic words” in the exercise of governing.

Published this Monday (11), the report by the British vehicle says that, for the business community, the central question is to understand which version of Lula would be in power. Whether “the economic pragmatist of his early years” or “the most ideological interventionist who emerged in the second term”.

To remove doubts about a possible radicalism, the PT points out the choice of Geraldo Alckmin (PSB) for vice on the ticket as proof of his moderation. In addition, he says he is “more experienced and with a much greater desire to get it right”.

However, the Financial Times says that Lula gives few details about his plans and emphasizes that, as much as one tries to bring the PT’s gaze to the future, he prefers to remember past triumphs. “Lula prefers exalted rhetoric to political details,” says the publication.

Regarding the actions he intends to take if he wins the elections, Lula reinforced to the British newspaper some of the statements he has already made in his pre-campaign, such as the proposal to revoke the spending ceiling, change the labor reform and the tax regime to make the rich pay more taxes.

In the interview, Lula also promised to bring Brazil back to the global stage as an environmentally responsible and socially aware great power. “We have to make the preservation of the Amazon a priority,” he said, adding that deforestation must be drastically reduced and citing his success in his first term as proof of his ability.

The Amazon is one of the main problems for President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) in the external scenario. Increase in deforestation and, more recently, the murder of indigenist Bruno Pereira and British journalist Dom Phillips have negatively impacted the country’s image abroad.

turn of the century

In the political context, the British newspaper considers that a possible victory for Lula in October would represent “the political turning point of the decade — if not the century”.

“After being released in 2019 on a procedural issue, Lula is now on the verge of an impressive second chance,” the publication reads.

The report states that, faced with the exhaustion of many Brazilians due to Bolsonaro’s mismanagement of the Covid-19 pandemic and an endless culture war, Lula tries to persuade people that he is a statesman capable of bringing political stability and taking the country away. of the economic hole.

In the interview, Lula said that, after four years of government, Bolsonaro has become an outcast of humanity.

“I am very sad because 12 years after leaving the presidency, I think Brazil is poorer”, he says. “I find more unemployment, more people going hungry and Brazil with a government with very little credibility inside and outside the country.”

Asked about the recurrent attacks on the electoral system made by Bolsonaro, Lula rejected the possibility of a military intervention or post-election crisis, like what happened in the invasion of the US Capitol.

“Bolsonaro is someone who bluffs,” he said. “The president may want a coup, but ‘he would be on his own’.”