Bulletin 274 – People’s Committee in Defense of Lula and Democracy
Straight from Curitiba – 11/20/2018 – 228th Day of Resistance – 7:50 PM
1. The Lula Livre Vigil celebrated Black Consciousness Day today remembering the victories that the Afro-Descendent population of the country obtained during the governments of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Dilma Rousseff. The advances, with the implementation of different public policies, were listed by Luiz Carlos dos Santos, an activist from the Black Movement and director of the APP-SindicatoParaná state public school teachers union. He said that Brazil has the second largest black population in the world, trailing only Nigeria, and, even so, this parcel of society is practically invisible in the spaces of power. Learn more here:
http://www.pt.org.br/vigilia-lula-livre-rememora-combate-ao-racismo-nos-governos-do-pt/
2. On Black Consciousness day, it is important to remember that it was the governments of Lula and Dilma who intensified diplomatic relations with African countries. In April 2005, Lula visited Gorée Island, on the coast of Senegal, a location where enslaved Africans were transported from to the Americas. It was there, in an historic event, that Lula became the first Brazilian President to official apologize for “what we did to black people.” Even after leaving the government, the ex-President continued his relations of partnership and cooperation with the African nations through the Lula Institute. Read more here: http://www.pt.org.br/lula-foi-unico-presidente-a-pedir-perdao-por-escravatura-na-africa/
3. In a note, former President Lula’s lawyer, Cristiano Zanin Martins, rebutted a story with a “clear persecutorial nature” published by the Estado de São Paulo newspaper on November 18th about visitors received by the ex-President in nearly 8 months of arbitrary imprisonment. The newspaper distorted the news as if Lula had some kind of privilege. Zanin said that the visits have all strictly followed the rules established by the judge. During the period, visits were denied to several governors, an adviser to the Pope and the English musician Roger Waters. Read more here: https://lula.com.br/nota-visitas-a-lula-cumprem-estritamente-regras-do-juizo/
4. The struggle for racial equality and against prejudice was the theme of a conversation circle this afternoon in the Lula Livre Vigil. “The advances that have happened all happened during the Lula and Dilma governments. Lula was a warrior in the struggle of the black people. So, for Lula, for Zumbi dos Palmares, let’s continue the struggle,” said Haidê Maria de Jesus, an activist from the Black Movement and director of PT Paraná. “We have to resist and we will resist. The Black people will be combative, will be strong and will change the current scenario,” she said.
Bulletin 274 – People’s Committee in Defense of Lula and Democracy
Straight from Curitiba – 11/20/2018 – 228th Day of Resistance – 7:50 PM
