Former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) praised South America’s left-wing ex-governors this Friday (10), saying that they were responsible for the best period ever experienced by the continent.
The declaration was given to a crowded Plaza de Mayo, in Buenos Aires, during an event promoted by the Argentine government to commemorate Human Rights Day.
He included in the list of praise Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chávez (who died in 2013) and former presidents accused of authoritarian and undemocratic practices, such as Rafael Correa (Ecuador) and Evo Morales (Bolivia).
He also mentioned former Chilean socialist presidents Ricardo Lagos and Michele Bachelet, Uruguayans Tabaré Vázquez and Pepe Mujica, Paraguayan Fernando Lugo and Argentineans Néstor and Cristina Kirchner.
‘These progressive, socialist, humanist comrades were part of the best moment of democracy in our great homeland, our dear Latin America”, said Lula, in a speech in Portuguese, which was widely applauded by the crowd. At times, there was a chorus of “hello”. , hello, hello, hello, Lula, Lula”.
The former president also made references to multilateral institutions created by left-wing governments in the region.
“From 2000 to 2012, we democratically govern all the countries of South America, when we expelled the FTAA [Alca de Livre Comércio das Américas], we signed Mercosur and created Unasur [União de Nações Sul-Americanas] e a Celac [Comunidade dos Estados Latino-Americanos e Caribenhos]”, he said.
When talking about CELAC, he said it was “the best institution”, because it sheltered Cuba and excluded the US and Canada.
The PT member also gave special thanks to Argentine president Alberto Fernández and his vice president, Cristina, who maintain a tense relationship.
He compared her arrest in Brazil to the lawsuits she faced. “”I want to thank you for the solidarity you showed me in Argentina when I was arrested in Brazil. The same persecution that put me in prison is what Cristina was the victim of,” he said.
About Fernández, he recalled that he went to visit him in jail when he was still running for president, in 2019. “That’s why, in any situation, this 76-year-old, but with the energy of a 20-year-old, will be by your side “, Lula said, addressing the Argentine president.
Lula, who is expected to run for president next year, was a kind of special guest at a series of events promoted by the Argentine government with the theme of human rights.
The PT member participated in the delivery of the Azucena Villaflor awards, at the Bicentenary Museum, attached to the Casa Rosada.
Present were the leader of the Grandparents of Praça de Mayo, Estela de Carlotto, the Nobel laureate Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, and ministers of the Fernández administration.
The creation of a memory space in Campo de Mayo was announced, where one of the main clandestine centers of torture operated during the military dictatorship.
Esquivel said, in his speech, that he hopes that “our comrade Lula will be elected next year in Brazil for the good of Latin America”. He was applauded by the audience made up of government officials and representatives of human rights associations.
The event had great participation from the militancy, who began arriving at Plaza de Mayo around noon, to participate in the “Democracy forever” festival, promoted by the Argentine government to celebrate the international day of democracy and human rights.
Wrapped in Argentine flags with images of former president Juan Domingo Perón and his wife Evita, carrying banners supporting the government of Fernández and Cristina, supporters began to fill the square where a stage was set up for concerts.
Transformed into a party act, the event also celebrated the two years of Fernández’s inauguration. Several organizations of left-wing militants, human rights defense and unions were summoned. The event received criticism from opposition figures for using the state for political propaganda.
“Argentine democracy is not the child of Peronism, but of all Argentines. It is not legitimate for them to want to rewrite history,” said Deputy Mario Negri (União Cívica Radical).
Introduced as the star of the event, Lula arrived in Buenos Aires the day before, recorded a television program and had dinner at Olivos’ residence with Fernández and Cristina. Another guest at the event was former Uruguayan president José “Pepe” Mujica.
The leader of the La Cámpora movement and Cristina’s son, deputy Máximo Kirchner, asked the militants to “break up the Plaza de Mayo to embrace someone who, like Cristina, suffered persecution from the courts, and who will once again be president of Brazil” .
In an interview published on Friday by the daily Folha12, Lula said that “Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia and Chile both need progressive governments that involve the poor in the active participation of the economy, so that they can be consumers and buy things, as well as having access to education”.
According to him, Latin America can recover. “Sadly, people like Néstor Kirchner [Argentina] and Hugo Chavez [Venezuela] died, others were raped like Rafael Correa [Equador] and Dilma Rousseff, after the ‘lawfare’ violence against me, the coup against Fernando Lugo [Paraguai]. Conservative governments have destroyed everything we have built for the social well-being of our peoples,” he said.
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