Lula da Silva calls to defeat “the radicalism and ignorance of Bolsonarismo”

This was assured this Saturday in Portugal by the elected president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva the “radicalism” and “ignorance” of Bolsonarismo are still alive despite the result of the presidential elections and he called to “defeat” them.

“We defeated (Jair) Bolsonaro in the elections, but Bolsonaro’s radicalism and ignorance are still alive and our mission is to defeat them,” he said during a meeting at the Lisbon University Institute with the Brazilian community in Portugal, which he he received with applause and shouts of “Lula is back”.

After his electoral victory at the end of one of Brazil’s most violent political campaigns, the leader of the Workers’ Party (PT), who arrived in the Portuguese capital on Friday for a two-day visit, assured he had “never” seen a left “to practice 10% of the violence that the far right is practicing in Brazil”.

Like this, appealed “defeating” Bolsonarism “without using against them the methods they used” against the left.

“We don’t want violence, we want a country that lives in peace, that has prospects and opportunities for survival,” said Lula, and asked not to “fight” with the Bolsonarists.

“Don’t quarrel with those who lie. The democratic people of this world cannot quarrel with someone who has no arguments,” he decided.

Lula underlined his commitment to betting on education in Brazil, in an event in which many children were present.

“They say that Lula spends money on education. I don’t spend money, I invest it”, defended the president-elect, who considered it the best way to ensure equal opportunities.

Also argued that 33 million Brazilians are hungry and he blamed it on the “irresponsibility of the rulers”, because it is a situation that should not occur in the “third largest food producer in the world”.

“We will recover this country,” promised the former union leader who returned to the presidential palace in Planalto on January 1, and thanked him for the support he received at the polls to become president again.

Message to the markets

After causing a shock on the financial markets by slipping the possibility of breaking the “spending ceiling” expected in Brazil, this Friday, from Portugal, he tried to reassure investors and economists.

The future Brazilian president has said that his government will take fiscal responsibility, although this does not mean that it will deal with “everything the financial market wants”.

At a news conference in Lisbon after a meeting with Portugal’s Prime Minister Antonio Costa, Lula referred to market fears that his government will overshoot public spending, which sent the dollar skyrocketing this week. in Brazil.

“I learned from my mother, who was illiterate, that we can only spend what we have or what we earn, but if we have to borrow to build a new asset, we should do it responsibly so the country can grow again.” , ” She said. .

The former president (2003-2010) promised that “the minimum wage will increase every year and I will once again generate employment in this country, and we will be fiscally responsible again, without having to deal with everything the system wants financial”.

First trip

The PT candidate obtained a clear victory in the three Brazilian consulates in Portugal – Lisbon, Porto and Faro -, with more than 60% of the votes in the capital.

Lula concluded his two-day visit to Lisbon on Saturday, the first bilateral trip he decided to make after being elected president and after his visit to the COP27 climate summit held in Egypt.

The meeting with the Brazilian community was organized by the PT core in Portugal and was attended by several dozen Brazilians dressed in T-shirts, flags and banners in support of Lula, amid heavy security.

Lula was received on Friday by the President of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, and by the Prime Minister, António Costa, during a visit which in Portugal is seen as symbol of recovery of close relationship between the two countries, after the distance suffered during the Bolsonaro presidency.

“It is our brother country, our motherland. We cannot lose a relationship with this affection,” Lula said in a press conference with Costa on Friday.

Source: EFE

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