Brazil’s former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has satirized Jair Bolsonaro’s ‘idiotic’ and clumsy response to the coronavirus pandemic, in a poignant and potentially historic speech widely seen as the beginning of an attempt to wrestle the presidency back with his extreme right-wing nemesis.
The left-wing veteran, who led Latin America’s top economy through some of the brightest years in its modern history, was catapulted back to the front lines of Brazilian politics on Monday by the surprise decision to destroy the corruption beliefs that drove his attempt to reclaim the presidency. claims, overturned in 2018. On Tuesday, a Supreme Court judge labeled the anti-corruption operation that forced Lula in that year’s election to be “the biggest judicial scandal” in Brazilian history.
Speaking to the nation on Wednesday, the 75-year-old stopped formally announcing that he would challenge Bolsonaro – a right-wing populist who accused critics of a catastrophic wrong approach to the Covid outbreak – in the 2022 election. from 2003 to 2011, there was no doubt that his political battle had begun.
“Just think of the madness that has gripped this country,” said the leader of the Workers’ Party (PT), who was barred from taking part in the 2018 elections after his imprisonment.
“This country is in a state of utter turmoil and confusion because there is no government. I repeat that: this country has no government, ”Lula insisted, blaming Bolsonaro’s ineptitude and denial for the magnitude of a Covid crisis that killed nearly 270,000 Brazilians.
“For the love of God. This virus killed nearly 2,000 people yesterday,” Lula told journalists and supporters at the headquarters of the metal workers’ union in São Bernardo do Campo, the industrial center where he cut his political teeth in the 1970s.
“Vaccines are not about whether you have the money or not,” he said of the Bolsonaro government’s failure to get enough doses. “They are about whether you love life or death.”
Political observers are divided on the impact Lula’s rehabilitation will have on the 2022 elections and his chances of success.
Some, including Bolsonaro allies, argue that Bolsonaro will enjoy clashes with a left that he will portray as a radical “red” threat. But Thaís Oyama, the author of a book on Bolsonaro’s tumultuous presidency, claimed that the right-wing populist and his constituency were blinded and confused by Lula’s unexpected return.
“They think this is very bad. It was a complete surprise and they are shocked and very concerned. There was a funeral mood [around Bolsonaro this week], ‘Oyama said. “It’s the worst that could have happened to him right now … It caught him flat footed.”
A poll published on the eve of Monday’s ruling found that 50% of Brazilians would certainly be able or willing to vote for Lula in the next election, compared to just 38% for Bolsonaro.
Oyama said Bolsonaristas had become nervous about their leader’s chances of re-election in recent months, with polls showing he was losing support due to his Covid-19 response.
Bolsonaro is said to be especially concerned about the rejection of workers and poor voters in northeastern Brazil, where Lula was born and is still a beloved figure revered for his crusade against poverty. But even members of the economic elite who encouraged Bolsonaro’s rise were so disillusioned that Oyama thought they would consider switching sides. “If I get the choice between Bolsonaro and the devil, I will vote for the devil,” a government-funded interlocutor recently told one of the journalist’s contacts.
Christian Lynch, a political scientist from Rio de Janeiro State University, agreed that Lula’s resurgence was bad news for Bolsonaro.
“Lula has ruled this country for eight years – and it was the most prosperous period in Brazil’s recent history,” he said, predicting that a coronavirus-fueled economic slump would entice many voters by the prospect of returning to that country. quiet days of poverty alleviation and economic growth.
“Bolsonaro represents the low point in the recent history of the Republic and he will have to compete against the candidate who was his high point,” said Lynch.
Lula’s comeback is far from universally welcome. Many conservatives see him as the personification of corruption and economic ineptitude, given the historic recession that plunged Brazil into under its handpicked successor, Dilma Rousseff. The recent poll that placed Lula 12 points ahead of Bolsonaro also found that 44% of Brazilians rejected Lula, although 56% were against Bolsonaro.
To recapture some of those voters, Lynch said it was essential that Lula position herself as a Joe Biden-style “reconciler” who could reunite Brazil and restore its economy after the rancor and chaos caused by the Donald Trump. admiring sitting president. “He needs to position himself as a leftist Bonaparte who has come to restore peace and order,” Lynch said.
In his 80-minute speech, Lula promised just that – with a devastating diagnosis of the “evil” Bolsonaro was doing to Brazil, but also with an optimistic vision of the future.
The former president devastated Bolsonaro as a useless “blowhard” who had endangered lives by promoting unproven Covid remedies, questioning the importance of vaccination, and vowing not to get vaccinated himself. “Don’t follow any of the moronic decisions of the president or health secretary. Get vaccinated,” Lula said.
But he also described a more optimistic path forward for the country where racism could be “abolished,” the economic boom, the LGBT community and different religions respected, women should not be “trampled” and where “young people can roam freely. without worrying about getting shot ”.
“This world is possible, absolutely possible, and that’s why I invite you to fight,” said Lula, who was an advocate for science and wore a face mask at the event, something Bolsonaro has repeatedly failed to do.
Despite being in his eighth decade, Lula admitted that he was indulging a political fight. “I like to joke that I have the energy of a 30-year-old and the drive of a 20-year-old – maybe that’s why I haven’t been vaccinated yet,” he joked.
Gaspard Estrada, a Brazil specialist at the Paris Institute of Political Studies, called Lula’s revival a positive development for those horrified at Brazil’s illiberal approach under Bolsonaro, a former paratrooper who has publicly praised torturers and dictators.
“The Brazilian opposition now has a face and a name and that is Lula,” said Estrada, adding, “What is at stake now is the future of Brazilian democracy.”