Former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) said this Saturday (11), in Buenos Aires, that Latin America will evolve if he and other names on the left win the next elections in the region. “If I win in Brazil, [Gabriel] Boric win in Chile and with his partner [Alberto] Fernández here in Argentina, things will be better in the region,” he told activists at an event at the General Confederation of Labor.
“I wouldn’t need to be a candidate for president, I was already lucky to be president and leave the greatest legacy of social inclusion in the history of Brazil. It was a successful experience. What is happening is that the far right is growing in the world We need to prepare ourselves to defend ourselves against fascism,” Lula declared.
Upon leaving the event, however, he stated that he was not anticipating the announcement of his candidacy. “I already have 26 vices, 8 ministers of economy, let the staff indicate. When the time comes, I will decide.”
The PT member made a speech with a slightly higher tone than the night before, in Praça de Mayo, this time aimed at militancy.
“Tell me something that Bolsonaro has done? He didn’t do anything. But the [ex-presidente argentino Mauricio] Macri, yes, borrowed a huge debt and left it to Alberto Fernández to pay it,” Lula said, to great applause.
He criticized the press and the Brazilian Public Ministry, “who tried to destroy democracy in Brazil” and caused “the destruction of thousands of jobs”. He stated that “we had ended hunger in Brazil, and today there are Brazilians going hungry.”
In the auditorium were union leaders, ministers of administration Alberto Fernández and members of the Brazilian community in Buenos Aires.
The atmosphere was festive, with militants bringing flags from their associations, from Brazil, Argentina, PT, Frente Amplio (Jose Mujica’s party in Uruguay) and the leftist candidate in the Chilean election, Gabriel Boric.
He stated that the agreement between Mercosur and the European Union should not make the region just an exporter of commodities, but rather “respect our aspiration to industrialize”.
He said that “every time there is a major crisis, the state appears”. He exemplified with the role of states during the coronavirus pandemic.
Lula thanked again for “the support of the Argentines” during the period in which he was imprisoned. It paid tribute to former president Néstor Kirchner (1950-2010), drawing a wave of applause from those present. And, just as the day before, he said that when he, Kirchner and other progressive presidents were in power, “the reality of South America was much better”.
Lula said he was thrilled to be in the building where the body of Eva Perón (1919-1952) was veiled before being kidnapped by the military.
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