“Stand with Lula” World Campaign Launched

Over the last days, the Brazilian people have watched in awe the boldness of segments of the Brazilian elite, embedded in the state apparatus and supported by the coup-mongering media, as they attempt to destroy ex-President Lula, make him ineligible for 2018, or even arrest him, as some are asking for.

The arguments of the Curitiba-based federal prosecutors to indict Lula, in a spectacle-esque press conference held last September 14th, resisted less than 24 hours: totally inconsistent, not only were the charges immediately rebutted by President Lula’s defense (see more at https://pt.org.br/blog-secretarias/nota-dos-advogados-de-lula-sobre-acusacoes-do-mpf/ ), but also even the coup-mongering media had to reflect the opinions of their contributors along the same lines.

Acceptance of the case by first-tier Jorge Sergio Moro has also stunned the press all over the world, which found it “astonishingly rapid” (Clarín), “riddled with weak evidence” (Le Monde), “political trial” (The Guardian), plus raising questions by a New York Times editorial as to the limits the prosecutors were stepping beyond in their effort to arrest Lula.

No wonder this outright attack against democratic rights, characteristic of governments of exception, is taking place soon after the farcical process through which parliamentarians involved in corruption ousted President  Dilma Rousseff, legitimately elected by 54 million Brazilian men and women, so as to implement a government platform in the country that was defeated in the 2014 polls and to carry out, with no support from the ballots, one of the most regressive and  wild neoliberal-oriented programs Brazil has ever known: as is publicly known, they intend to freeze spending on education and health for 20 years, to slash legally-mandated social security rights, to curtail labor rights and guarantees set forth decades ago, plus handing over the recently discovered Pre-Salt deepwater oil reserves to multinational corporations.

The recent offensive aims to destroy Lula’s reputation and prevent him at any cost, even by violating legal principles, from running for the Presidency of the Republic in 2018. It is worth recalling that, in the latest opinion polls by pollsters DataFolha (July 2016)  and Vox Populi (August 2016), the former president is leading in voting intentions for  the 2018 presidential election, even after the brutal attack that is being waged against him and the Workers Party started in January 2015.

But Brazil and the world will not watch in silence yet another attack against democracy. On the same day Moro accepted the charges, the international trade union movement, led by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and by American trade union confederation AFL-CIO, launched the world campaign “Stand with Lula”, in five languages, with instant world repercussions (http://www.standwithlula.org).

In Brazil, the ex-president has just come back from a trip in the Northeast, where he was greeted by tens of thousands of people, in seven cities, thus showing the strength of his popularity (http://lula.com.br/estamos-com-lula-e-marca-da-passagem-pelo-nordeste).

Therefore, we call all democrats, leftist and progressive parties, labor and grassroots’ organizations, and social movements to join in this World Campaign and to organize the most potent and vigorous solidarity campaign and mobilization against the persecution and the criminal charges filed with no evidence against President Lula.