On the occasion of a worldwide day of action calling for the former Brazilian President’s freedom, some 10,000 people from around the country gathered in Curitiba this weekend for a vigil marking the 365th day of the Workers Party leader’s incarceration, demanding his freedom and denouncing the reactionary social and economic measures of the Bolsonaro government.

This Sunday Lula da Silva sent a letter to the Brazilian people saying that his voice is that of millions, and that the setbacks suffered will only strengthen the struggle since we are “alive and strong.”

“They are afraid of the millions of Lulas. Because they know what we are capable of when we come together to transform this country. … Together, we are going to reverse every setback, every step back on the difficult path to the Brazil we dream of, that we will prove is possible to build. We will win,” he said.

(Source: Granma)

“Lula is a victim of political persecution, the proceedings against him have no proof, evidence, nothing,” he stressed. “Interestingly, the person who was behind the incarceration of Lula, once Bolsonaro won the election, was invited to be Minister of Justice. It is already known that the coordination between that judge and the current president came before the election.”

Greenhalgh, a founder of the Brazilian Workers’ Party (PT), explained at the meeting that Lula is treated like a criminal, disrespecting his rights, with the sole purpose of preventing his political activity. “Lula remains in a small prison space, which is cruel. I’m 70 years old, I fought against the dictatorship, and I’m disillusioned on seeing him in those conditions.”

Lula is suffering in prison. He has already lost his brother, his grandson, and is being prevented from communicating with the people. He can only talk to his lawyers, and he has restricted access to the media. He has no possibility of permanent religious assistance, and receives his children just once a week, the defense lawyer said.

In his statements, Greenhalgh emphasized that what has happened to Lula is inexplicable. According to the Brazilian justice system, it usually takes about a year and a half for the accused to be imprisoned following the issuing of a sentence. In the case of Lula, just three months later, he was jailed. “What they wanted was to destroy him, to publicly humiliate him.”

The trial against Lula is linked to the United States, its Department of Justice, the Central Intelligence Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, where everything was hatched; from there the lawsuits against Dilma and against Lula were prepared. “It’s no wonder President Jair Bolsonaro’s first visit in the United States was to the CIA,” the lawyer denounced.

“For me, as a Brazilian, everything that has happened to Lula is a disgrace, I won’t rest until the day I can leave with him, free,” he stressed.

Only a strong global campaign of solidarity with Lula can result in his release. Greenhalgh commented that when he told the former President of the Cuban government’s decision to build a global campaign for his release, he responded: “I wouldn’t expect anything less of the Cubans.”

Cuban law professors and students, attending the meeting, expressed their unconditional support for the former president, and the confidence that justice will prevail and Lula will be freed.

Political leaders, intellectuals, and representatives of social movements are evaluating the unfavorable correlation of forces developing over the last few years, and charting action plans, taking the victory of progressive candidate

Andrés Manuel López Obrador, in Mexico, as a positive sign.
“The storm arrived and shut the window opened at the end of the 90s… The question now posed, for the Brazilian left especially, is how to open the window again,” recently wrote Valter Pomar, a member of Brazil’s Workers’ Party and a professor of International Affairs at the Federal University, in his essay on how to move forward.

In his opinion, the left needs strong candidates to challenge the right in elections, but this is not enough since the strategic “utility” of legislators and government leaders rises and falls in accordance with political perspectives and the level of organization outside of the institutional environment, implying the need for a change in methods on the left, and a recovery of spaces lost alongside the working class.

In Latin America, “The challenge for this possible left is that of building alternatives to capitalism in the economic field, where the current plan is the Uber-ization of the economy; total deregulation – except when the state is needed to dismantle a progressive gain; but above all, build alternatives in the cultural field, challenge capitalist hegemony in the cultural (and media) environment to construct a people, not consumer citizens deluded with false middle class hopes,” writes political analyst Katu Arkonada on the teleSUR blog.
Likewise, essayist, journalist, sociologist, university professor, and political analyst Olmedo Beluche, wrote in Rebelión: “Without nationalization of the national banking and financial system, without state control of foreign trade; and without the nationalization of large industries, that is, without truly socialist measures, Latin American governments in general are at the mercy of the bourgeoisie, of imperialism, and economic sabotage, as the case of Venezuela has repeatedly shown.”

This contradiction, he argues, explains the limitations of the left and the difficulty it faces in responding to the offensive being mounted by national right wing forces supported by U.S. imperialism, plus the reformist attitude of leaders who docilely accept the formalities of bourgeois institutions.
The majority of analysts agree that the progressive cycle on the continent is in crisis, but not coming to an end. Although some popular governments were removed from office via elections (Argentina) or through semi-legal or judicial maneuvers (Brazil), the progressive era’s hard core of change has not collapsed: Bolivia and Venezuela, accompanied by Nicaragua and the Cuban Revolution.
“The two projects, along with Nicaragua and Cuba, which propose going beyond capitalist relations in the long run, are on their feet, indicating that the strategic battle of our time is defending these processes,” as was made clear during the 24th annual meeting of the São Paulo Forum, held in Havana this past July.

At this gathering of the region’s political forces, proposals were made for sustained action based on the idea that government positions won by the left must reinforce their legitimate hegemony and build popular power. Peoples with political consciousness are always the best antidote to the return of the right in the Americas.
STRATEGIES FROM THE LEFT

- Systematically and creatively disseminate the economic, social, and political gains of popular governments that, for one reason or another, have suffered reverses, as well as those which have endured.
- Strengthen a constructive, serene debate on the historic, political, and ideological limitations of each process.
- Seek more efficient mechanisms for organization, consciousness building, and political participation of the social base committed to post-neoliberal change.

- Renovate relations between government political parties and popular movements with nationalist and patriotic positions, taking a favorable position on the need for a state that assures democratic functioning in the construction of consensus.
- Build consensus among segments of society that share, or could share, demands, interests, and revolutionary or progressive change.

- Strengthen the cause of Puerto Rican independence, as a symbol of the anti-colonial struggle to be defended.
- Build active participation of the people and national majorities in the political process of each country.

- Provide decisive support and encourage liberation efforts and anti-capitalist ideas within social movements.

- Promote efforts to advance the integration of what Martí called Our America.
- Support, in all international spaces available, any action taken to reduce the level of domination and hegemony of the United States in our countries, as essential and possible.

(Granma)

For obvious reasons, a personal and more wide-ranging interview with this journalist could not be conducted. However, the fact that Lula took some of his time while imprisoned to answer our questions makes this interview particularly significant, not only for Cuban readers, but all those around the world.

As a candidate for the Presidency of Brazil, with the greatest popular support and all polls indicating you are the favorite to win, how would you describe the persecution and imprisonment to which you have been subjected?

It’s a political process, political imprisonment. The case against me fails to point to a crime, nor is there any evidence. They had to disrespect the Constitution to arrest me. What is becoming increasingly transparent to Brazilian society and the world is that they want to take me out of the 2018 elections. The coup in 2016, with the removal of an elected president, indicates that they don’t accept the people voting for whoever they want to vote for.

For many leaders imprisoned simply for fighting for the people, prison has served as a place for reflection and the organization of ideas to continue the struggle. In your case, how are you dealing with these first days, since you are preventing from being in contact with the people?

I’m reading and thinking a lot, it’s a moment of much reflection about Brazil and especially everything that has happened in recent times. I am at peace with my conscience and I doubt that all those who lied against me sleep as peacefully as I do.

Of course I would like to be free and doing what I have done all my life: dialoging with the people. But I am aware that the injustice that is being committed against me is also an injustice against the Brazilian people.

How important is it for you to know that across all Brazilian states there are thousands of compatriots in favor of your release?

The relationship that I have built over decades with the Brazilian people, with social movement organizations, is a very trusting relationship and it is something that I greatly appreciate, because in my entire political career I always insisted on never betraying that trust. And I would not betray that trust for any money, for an apartment, for nothing. That was the case before being president, during my presidency and afterwards. So, for me, that solidarity is something that moves me and encourages me to stand fast.

How would you define the concept of democracy imposed by the oligarchy to exclude leaders of the left and ensure they don’t come to power?

Latin America has experienced its strongest moment of democracy and social gains in the last decades. But recently the elites of the region are trying to impose a model where the democratic process is only valid when they win, which, of course, is not democracy. So it is an attempt at democracy without the people. When it doesn’t turn out the way they want, they change the rules of the game to benefit the vision of a small minority. That is very serious. And we are not only seeing it in Latin America, but throughout the world, an increase in intolerance and political persecution. It has happened in Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador and other countries.

What message do you send to all those who, in Brazil and around the world, are showing solidarity with you and demanding your immediate release?

I really appreciate all the solidarity. It is necessary to be solidary with the Brazilian people. Unemployment is rising, more than a million families have returned to cooking with firewood because of the increase in the price of cooking gas, millions who had left poverty behind are once again facing the situation of having nothing to eat, and even the middle class has lost jobs and income.

Brazil was on a path of decades of democratic progress, of political participation, and together with this, social advances, which accelerated with the governments of the PT (Worker’s Party), which won four elections in a row.

They have not only dealt the PT a blow. They didn’t arrest me just to malign Lula. They did so against a model of national development and social inclusion. The coup was to do away with the rights of workers and retirees, gained over the last 60 years. And the people are realizing that. And we are going to need a lot of organization to return to a popular government in Brazil, with sovereignty, social inclusion and economic development.

Lula, the same friend who kindly sent us the answers to this interview, also passed on two special messages: “I take this opportunity to thank compañeros Raúl Castro and Miguel Díaz-Canel for their solidary greetings, which were transmitted to me by Frei Betto.”

(Granma)

The most recent ruling was made by Judge André Nabarrete Neto, who indicated in his statement that former Brazilian heads of state are awarded “rights and prerogatives (not benefits) in consonance with the assumption of the Republic’s highest office, and have no legal limitations.”

It is worth recalling that these rights were withdrawn earlier by Judge Haroldo Nader, who justified the move saying that as long as Lula remained imprisoned, he was unable to make use of the prerogatives, teleSUR reported.

Nonetheless, the law stipulates that these rights are awarded to former Presidents for life, given the high ranking position they held.

“The explicit legal norms guarantee former Presidents not only security personnel, but also personal support and security for their property, since assistants of their confidence are needed to maintain their dignity and subsistence,” Judge Nabarrete explained in his ruling.

Thus this second level of the Brazilian court system reversed the May 17 decision by Judge Nader, describing as misguided the order to withdraw services to which Lula is entitled.

It is worth mentioning that all former Brazilian Presidents are entitled, by law and for life, to a team of eight people paid through the Cabinet budget.

Lula has been in prison since April 7, at the Federal Police headquarters in Curitiba, where he is serving a sentence of 12 years and one month for alleged corruption and money laundering, charges which have not been proven.

Beyond the restitution of his rights, the Brazilian Workers’ Party (PT) presidential candidate for the general elections of October, for which he is the favourite, remains in prison as a result of a rigged process.

WHAT WAS LULA’S CRIME?
÷÷ Helping to provide a platform that has given union movements and their struggles a voice.

÷÷ Winning the presidential elections in 2002 representing the PT, with the largest number of votes in the history of Brazil.

÷÷ An 80% approval rate in his second term, economic growth of 7.5%, and a minimum salary 54% higher than in his first term in government.

÷÷ Lifting more than 30 million Brazilians out of poverty, reducing the unemployment rate and placing the country on the map of emerging powers.

÷÷ Inspiring the largest country in Latin America and the Caribbean, and projecting an image of order and progress, just as is inscribed on its flag.

TIMELINE OF A WRONGFUL CONVICTION

2014

÷÷ The Petrobras scandal emerges.

÷÷ José Dirceu, former government minister under Lula, is detained.

÷÷ Lula and Dilma Rousseff are implicated in the corruption case.

2016

÷÷ The police begin to investigate Lula for influence peddling.

÷÷ Da Silva presents his written defense.

÷÷ Lula is accused of enriching himself through corruption.

÷÷ Public Prosecutor’s Office denounces the former Brazilian President for the first time.

÷÷ Lula goes from being a minister to a former minister in just one day.

÷÷ A judge in Brasilia accuses Lula of trying to bribe a defendant in the Petrobras case.

÷÷ Accept another indictment against Lula (now totaling five).

2017

÷÷ Lula testifies before Judge Sergio Moro.

÷÷ New accusation from the Public Prosecutor’s Office.

÷÷ Lula is sentenced to nine years in prison.

2018

÷÷ Appeals court upholds Lula’s conviction and increases his sentence.

÷÷ Go ahead given for Lula’s imprisonment.

÷÷ The Supreme Court rejects Lula’s final appeal.

BRAZIL DURING THE SAME PERIOD

2016

÷÷ President Dilma Rousseff is ousted from office.

÷÷ Michel Temer becomes President.

2017

÷÷ Da Silva doesn’t rule out running as a presidential candidate in 2018.

÷÷ In polls, support soars for the former president, while the process to prevent his candidacy advances.

÷÷ Political tensions led to an escalation of violence in the country’s streets.

2018

÷÷ Trucker drivers and oil workers strikes paralyze the nation.

÷÷ An increase in political violence, including the assassination of Marielle Franco.

÷÷ Lula put in isolation.

÷÷ Lula denied visits in Curitiba prison. Dilma Rousseff, Gleisi Hoffmann (PT president), Carlos Lupi (president of the Democratic Labor Party), Nobel Peace Prize winner Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, and intellectual Leonardo Boff are prevented from seeing him.

÷÷ Deputy Paulo Pimenta visits Lula and assures that he is aware of what is happening.

÷÷ Pimenta notes that Lula will be registered on August 15 as PT presidential candidate, and remains the favorite to win.

(Granma)