By Eric Nepomuceno on November 11, 2019
What we were expecting has been confirmed; Brazil’s former president Luis Inacio Lula da Silva is free again and in the streets, the extreme right-winger Jair Bolsonaro Administration is finally going to have an active opposition willing expose the consequences of the neoliberal fundamentalist Paulo Guede’s economic policy.
Lula surprised people with his speech last Saturday because no one expected that he would come out and directly start attacking Jair Bolsonaro, Sergio Moro – the judge who sentenced him to prison in a prosecution full of irregularities and without any evidence –, and focusing right away on Guedes. But that is exactly what he did.
He didn’t propose any alternative yet but he requested 20 days to do it, recalling that he was imprisoned for 580 days, while strongly criticized the current Government’s economic plan.
Political analysts and politicians, of course, noted the fact that Lula requested those 20 days to get in touch with the real situation being lived in the country these days.
The feeling is that he is going to use that time to devise his strategy and his tone, content and targets. Some aspects from his speech last Saturday are worthy of attention.
First, he criticized the opposition’s “accommodation,” which is true and real. Besides the “Lula Free” campaign, the Workers’ Party (PT) and close parties appeared to be adrift this year.
What really caught people’s attention during Lula’s speech to the crowd surrounding the San Bernardo Metal Workers Union last Saturday, was that he openly compared Brazil’s situation with what is happening in Chile. And he called on people to go to the streets to protest.
With that said, his steps from now on are clear; not only will he be defending himself, but criticizing, beating up, attacking, in short, polarizing the political landscape.
Moreover, Lula attacked Bolsonaro for his (and his three politically active sons) connection with paramilitary militias fighting with drug trafficking gangs for about 60 percent of the Rio de Janeiro metropolitan region.
Second, he focused his attacks against the “Lava Jato” (Car Wash) operation, headed by then Judge and now Justice Minister Sergio Moro, who sentenced him to prison amidst a clearly manipulated trial.
Bolsonaro said last Friday that his victory is basically thanks to Moro. This led Lula to assert that the trial that sentenced him to prison preventing him from standing for elections was essential for Bolsonaro to win the Presidency.
The third issue attacked by Lula in his statements last Saturday was Paulo Guedes’ economic project. Expectations are now that Lula continue launching these type of attacks in his new speeches.
This would be the first time a voice is raised – and precisely Lula’s – to denounce the damages that the program devised by Paulo Guedes may inflict on the country. Just a few weeks ago, other economists slightly hinted criticism at the Government’s economic program, for the first time, but subtlety. Lula went directly and forcefully to his target.
So far, such succinct and direct attacks on Guedes policy have not been launched at all during any day during the ten months of the Bolsonaro Administration like Lula did last Saturday; the country in turn has been distracted with the nonsense of rumors of the president’s clan.
Lula is back.
So it is safe to say that a radical change can be expected in Brazil’s political spectrum. To find out the effects of this return, we’ll have to wait at least those 20 days he requested to get acquainted with the situation and talk to the nation again.
Expectations are rising throughout Brazil’s political scope. But there is special attention on those able to intervene and change the course of history: the Armed Forces, especially the Army.
A rumor was spread a day after Lula gave his speech about active soldiers fearing that stances may be radicalized between him and Bolsonaro. There is a wide group of retired soldiers who are part of the extreme right-wing that supports the Bolsonaro Administration.
But a certain distance can be observed among those who effectively matter – those on duty – from Bolsonaro, who is seen as impulsive and having no sense that control is essential to head a country that is being plunged into an acute social and economic crisis as the one being lived today in Brazil.
Thus, expectations are not only focused on Lula and Bolsonaro but also on the military Let’s see what happens in the next days.
Source: Pagina 12, translation Resumen Latinoamericano, North America bureau