The publication that claims that the Chilean government will adopt the PT policy and that it will pay tribute to former Brazilian President Lula (PT) is false. As verified by Projeto Comprova, contrary to what the post says, Gabriel Boric, president of Chile, did not call Lula and there are no indications that both discussed political projects involving the creation of programs similar to SUS (Sistema Único de Saúde) and to Bolsa FamÃlia in Chile. Lula and Boric only expressed support for each other during the election period in their countries.
From the moment the publication says that the Chilean program will give credit to Lula, it may give the false impression that both SUS and Bolsa FamÃlia were implemented under the PT administration. In Brazil, the SUS was provided for in the Federal Constitution of 1988 and implemented in 1990 —13 years before the PT administration. The Bolsa FamÃlia was implemented in 2003, under Lula’s command, from the reorganization of social programs that were created in the government of former President Fernando Henrique Cardoso (PSDB), such as Bolsa Escola and Cadastro Único, for example.
False, for Comprova, is content invented or edited to change its original meaning and deliberately disseminated to spread a falsehood.
Scope of publication
The tweet claiming that Gabriel Boric had called Lula before the announcement of new aid had 17,200 likes, 1,865 shares and 220 tweets with comments, as of August 19.
what does the author say
The report was unable to contact the author of the publication, since, on his Twitter profile, sending direct messages is not allowed. The profile also did not respond to the comment left on the publication and was not found on other social networks.
How do we check
To verify, we Googled a possible meeting between Lula and Boric. For this, we use keywords like “Lula”, “Boric” and “encounter”. We also searched for the terms “Bolsa FamÃlia” and “SUS” in relation to Boric’s name. In the query, Google’s Advanced Search tool was also used to find results from sites in Chile and in Spanish.
Then we use the search tools of the TweetDeck to see if there was any recent publication on the Twitter profiles of Lula, Boric and the Chilean government that indicated a meeting between the two politicians.
To find out when the photo used in the post, which shows Lula wearing a cap with Boric’s name, was from, we used the TinEye reverse search.
We also visited Chile’s state portal to verify ongoing social programs. In Chile Atiende, it was possible to learn more about the Family Grant, equivalent to the Brazilian Bolsa FamÃlia. On the website of the Biblioteca del Congreso Nacional de Chile, we found the 1981 law that instituted the national subsidy program paid to families without income.
Finally, we tried to contact the PT staff, who referred us to Lula’s staff, and the Chilean government, through social networks, as we could not find any press contact on the official websites. However, we had no response from the Chilean government.
We also look for the author of the post, but the profile does not allow sending messages.
Relationship between Boric and Lula
Gabriel Boric was elected president of Chile in December 2021 and sworn in in March 2022. The left-wing politician is 35 years old and replaces Sebastian Piñera, the right-wing leader who has commanded the country for the last four years, a period of polarization marked by demonstrations that resulted in a new Constitution. Boric was a student leader and, during the campaign for the position, raised banners such as abortion rights and equal marriage.
In an interview with BBC Mundo in January this year, Boric said he hopes to work with the former president if he is elected. “I hope to work alongside Luis Arce in Bolivia, Lula if he wins the elections in Brazil, Gustavo Petro, whose experience is consolidated in Colombia. I think it could be an interesting axis,” he said. In another part of the interview, he says that, despite valuing Lula, he also seeks other references. “I highly value Lula’s experience, but I also try to get to know (Fernando Henrique) Cardoso’s. You can’t have static references.”
Lula and also former President Dilma Rousseff (PT) celebrated Boric’s victory. By social networks, the PT presidential candidate congratulated the Chilean. “I am happy for another victory of a democratic and progressive candidate in our Latin America, for the construction of a better future for all”, he wrote. Already Dilma said that Boric’s victory is “an encouragement to the peoples of Latin America who are fighting against authoritarianism”.
Boric, in turn, also declared support for the former president in the race for the Plateau. “We wish Lula much success. What are we going to hide for? I hope he has a great result in the next elections,” he told reporters.
Lula was even invited to Boric’s inauguration, but he sent a letter to the president informing him that he could not attend and thanking him for the invitation. According to Boric, Lula did not want to go so as not to cause diplomatic embarrassment. “He was my guest for the inauguration, but he decided not to come precisely because of diplomatic differences, so as not to generate a diplomatic incident. An attitude that speaks in his favor,” he told reporters. To represent the PT and the former president, former president Dilma Rousseff was chosen to be present at the ceremony.
President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) was also invited, but he also did not attend. “I won’t go into details, because I’m not one to create problems in international relations. Brazil is doing very well with the whole world. You see who goes to the inauguration of the new president of Chile [Boric]. I won’t go, see who goes”, said Bolsonaro, during an interview with the website Gazeta Brasil, passed on by the press. With Bolsonaro’s absence, Vice President Hamilton Mourão (Republicans) was chosen to represent the Brazilian government.
No evidence
Although the two politicians have shown support for each other, there is no indication that the two had any conversations to discuss projects for Chile. The report asked if they had any dialogue on these issues and Lula’s adviser said they were “not aware” of this conversation.
There is also no mention of this alleged conversation on Brazilian and Chilean news sites or on Boric and Lula’s social networks. The Chilean government was also called, but so far has not responded to the report’s questions.
Chile already has “Bolsa Familia”
Chile has had a social program equivalent to Bolsa FamÃlia since 1981. Known as SUF (SubsÃdio Unifamiliar), the benefit is intended for low-income people according to the Social Registry of Domiciles (CSR). The amount of the subsidy is 16,418 Chilean pesos per dependent, equivalent to R$92. For people with some type of disability, the amount changes to 32,836 Chilean pesos, equivalent to R$188.29.
In May, Boric’s government entered into an agreement with the country’s CUT (Central Única de Trabalhadores) to readjust the benefit by 6,000 pesos. In July, the president announced a new subsidy for basic food baskets as a measure to face the increase in the prices of essential products. For the benefit, each family dependent may receive an amount of money that varies in relation to the salary of the person receiving the subsidy. The package costs the government $1.2 million.
In the case of Brazil, Bolsa FamÃlia was created during the first term of former President Lula, in 2003. The program was implemented through Provisional Measure n°132, and later transformed into Law n° 10,386/2004. The objective was to unify the income support programs existing until then in the country (Bolsa Escola, Bolsa Alimentação, AuxÃlio-gás and the National Program for Access to Food).
The target of the program were families with a monthly income per person from R$77 to R$154, families with an extremely vulnerable financial situation, who had a monthly income per person of less than R$77, and families considered poor that had a pregnant woman in their family bosom. As well as children or teenagers up to 17 years old.
The value of the benefit ranged from R$77 to more than one minimum wage, depending on income and the number of children in the family.
In 2022, Bolsa FamÃlia was replaced by AuxÃlio Brasil. Created in November 2021, the new aid pays R$400 per month to families enrolled in the program. This year, from August to December, an extra installment of R$200 will be made, which will temporarily raise the amount to R$600.
AuxÃlio Brasil was created by Law No. 14,284, of 2021. The rule is the result of the provisional measure MP 1,061/2021, approved by parliamentarians in December last year. The matter was voted on by the Senate on July 7. The rapporteur, Senator Davi Alcolumbre (União-AP), defended the approval.
Public health system in Chile
The country will have a universal public health system from September. The measure was announced by Boric in July and is a promise made during the campaign. The public health system is also provided for in the country’s new Constitution, which will undergo a referendum in September.
The new system was praised by the WHO (World Health Organization). “We congratulate the Government of Chile’s decision to cover all healthcare costs for 6 million Chileans. It is a big step towards its commitment to #HealthForAll”, tweeted the director general of the institution, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Currently, Chile has the National Health Fund, in which the population pays to be served. Only people over the age of 60 or those earning less than $420 a month are exempt from the charge. With the change, public service will be everyone’s right, as is the case in Brazil.
Other countries also have public healthcare systems, such as the UK, Canada, Australia, France and Sweden. Brazil, however, is the only one with a population of over 100 million inhabitants with a free public health system.
In Brazil, the SUS was provided for in the Federal Constitution of 1988 and created through Law No. 8080, of 1990, that is, before the PT administration. The legislation defines that the SUS must be managed between the Union, states and municipalities. The Brazilian model was inspired by the United Kingdom’s public health system, the NHS, created in 1948.
Before the Law, according to the Ministry of Health, public hospitals were restricted to 30 million Brazilians. Today, public service is everyone’s right. According to 2020 data from the IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics), 71.1% of Brazilians depend on the public health system.
Why do we investigate?
Comprova investigates suspicious content that went viral on social media about the pandemic, public policies of the federal government and presidential elections. False or misleading content involving candidates, as is the case with Lula, can influence the understanding of reality and the image built by voters about the politician. The choice about the candidate must be made based on true and reliable information.
