Former President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, criticized Jair Bolsonaro’s “idiotic” and disastrous response to the coronavirus pandemic, in a poignant and potentially historic speech seen as the beginning of an attempt to take the presidency from his enemy far right.
The left-wing veteran, who led the Latin American economy during some of the most brilliant years in its modern history, was catapulted back to the forefront of Brazilian politics on Monday by the surprising decision to nullify the corruption convictions that hampered his attempt to regain the presidency in 2018. On Tuesday, a Supreme Court judge called the anti-corruption operation that expelled Lula from that year’s election “the biggest judicial scandal” in Brazilian history.
Speaking to the nation on Wednesday, the 75-year-old did not formally announce that he would challenge Bolsonaro – a right-wing populist that critics accuse of catastrophically dealing with the Covid outbreak – in the 2022 elections. But Lula, who was president from 2003 to 2011, he left no doubt that his political reaction had begun.
“Just think about the madness that is taking over this country,” said the leader of the Workers’ Party (PT), who was barred from running for the 2018 election after being arrested.
“This country is in a state of great turmoil and confusion because there is no government. I will repeat: this-country-has-no-government ”, Lula insisted, blaming Bolsonaro’s ineptitude and denial for the scale of a Covid crisis that killed almost 270,000 Brazilians.
“For the love of God. This virus killed almost 2,000 people yesterday,” Lula told reporters and supporters at the headquarters of the metalworkers’ union in São Bernardo do Campo, the industrial hub where he began his political career in the 1970s.
“Vaccines do not depend on whether or not you have money,” he said of the Bolsonaro government’s failure to acquire sufficient doses. “They talk about whether you love life or death.”
Political observers are divided over the impact that Lula’s rehabilitation will have in the 2022 elections and his chances of success.
Some, including Bolsonaro’s allies, say Bolsonaro will love to clash with a leftist he will portray as a radical “red” threat. But Thaís Oyama, author of a book about Bolsonaro’s tumultuous presidency, said the right-wing populist and his supporters were surprised and disconcerted by Lula’s unexpected return.
“They think this is very bad. It was a total surprise and they were shocked and very concerned. There was a funeral mood [around Bolsonaro this week]”Said Oyama. “It’s the worst thing that could have happened to him now … It took him by surprise.”
A poll published on the eve of Monday’s decision showed that 50% of Brazilians could or would certainly vote for Lula in the next elections, compared with only 38% for Bolsonaro.
Oyama said that in recent months the Bolsonarists have been uneasy about their leader’s chances of reelection, with polls suggesting he was losing support because of his reaction to Covid-19.
Bolsonaro would be particularly anxious about the elimination of voters from the working and poor class in northeastern Brazil, where Lula was born and remains a much loved and revered figure for his crusade against poverty. But even the members of the economic elite who applauded Bolsonaro’s rise were so disappointed that Oyama thought they could consider changing sides. “If I can choose between Bolsonaro and the devil, I will vote for the devil,” said a well-to-do interlocutor recently to one of the journalist’s contacts.
Christian Lynch, a political scientist at the State University of Rio de Janeiro, agrees that Lula’s resurgence was bad news for Bolsonaro.
“Lula ruled this country for eight years – and it was the most prosperous period in Brazil’s recent history,” he said, predicting that an economic crisis fueled by the coronavirus would cause many voters to be seduced by the prospect of returning to those happy days of reducing poverty. poverty and economic boom.
“Bolsonaro represents rock bottom in the recent history of the Republic and he will have to face the candidate who was his heyday,” said Lynch.
Lula’s return is far from universally welcome. Many conservatives consider him the personification of corruption and economic ineptitude, given the historical recession in which Brazil plunged under its handpicked successor, Dilma Rousseff. The recent poll, which put Lula 12 points ahead of Bolsonaro, also showed that 44% of Brazilians rejected Lula, although 56% opposed Bolsonaro.
To win back some of these voters, Lynch said it was essential for Lula to position himself as a Joe Biden-style “conciliator” who could reunite Brazil and fix its economy after the grudge and confusion caused by his admirer of Donald Trump. “He needs to position himself as a left-wing Bonaparte who came to restore peace and order,” said Lynch.
In his 80-minute speech, Lula promised just that – offering a hard-hitting diagnosis of the “evils” inflicted on Brazil by Bolsonaro, but also an optimistic view of the future.
The ex-president attacked Bolsonaro as a useless “braggart” who put lives at risk by promoting unproven Covid drugs, questioning the importance of vaccination and vowing not to be vaccinated himself. “Don’t follow a single stupid decision by the president or the health minister. Get vaccinated,” said Lula.
But he also described a more optimistic path for the country where racism can be “abolished”, the economic boom, the LGBT community and different religions are respected, women are not “trampled” and where “young people can roam freely” without worrying about getting shot ”.
“This world is possible, absolutely possible, and that is why I invite you to fight,” said Lula, who defended science and wore a mask for the event, something that Bolsonaro has repeatedly failed to do.
Despite being in the eighth decade, Lula has shown signs that he longs for a political struggle. “I like to joke that I have the energy of a 30-year-old and the energy of a 20-year-old – maybe that’s why I haven’t been vaccinated yet,” he joked.
Gaspard Estrada, a specialist in Brazil at the Institute for Political Studies in Paris, considered Lula’s recovery to be a positive development for those who are horrified by Brazil’s illiberal attitude under Bolsonaro, a former paratrooper who publicly praised torturers and dictators.
“The Brazilian opposition now has a face and a name and this is Lula,” said Estrada, adding: “What is at stake now is the future of Brazilian democracy.”