Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil – 7/04/2018 – 8:20 PM
1. A political prisoner for nearly 3 months, ex-President Lula sent a solidarity message to ex-President of Ecuador Rafael Correa, target of an arrest warrant that was issued on Tuesday, July 3. Lula said that Correa, like him, is a victim of the persecution by the Judiciary of progressive leaders in Latin America. The Ecuadoran ex-President posted a message on Twitter thanking Lula for the gesture. Read Lula’s message here: https://lula.com.br/mensagem-de-lula-em-solidariadade-rafael-correa
2. PT National President, Senator Gleisi Hoffmann, released a note in which she criticized the National Confederation of Industry for excluding a representative of ex-President Lula, the isolated leader in all polls, from the debate among the pre-candidates for the Presidency of the Republic this Wednesday, July 4. Read more: http://www.pt.org.br/nota-do-pt-cni-exclui-ideias-de-lula-em-sabatina/
3. José Manuel Pureza, Congressman from the Bloco de Esquerda (Left Bloc/BE) and Vice President of the Republican Assembly of Portugal, gave support to Lula in an event about the dismantlement of labor laws that took place in the Casa de Alentejo in Lisbon on July 3. He denounced Lula’s political imprisonment as a coup maneuver against Democracy in Brazil and defended freedom for the Brazilian ex-President and his right to run for the Presidency of the Republic in the elections this October.
4. This morning, right after the “good morning” yell to Lula, Simone Rezende, from the Paraná state directorship of the Landless Rural Workers Movement (MST), facilitated a conversation about the People’s Congress, which will take place on August 16th in Brasilia. Part of the July and August Protest Journey, the People’s Congress aims to mobilize the population to reestablish democracy and guarantee a better future for Brazil.
5. Márcio Kieller, Communications Secretary for the CUT Parana state labor union federation led the “good afternoon” yell to Lula today. He asked activists to make a special commitment to sharing content from alternative media organizations on their social media networks, to help win the battle for information against the traditional media.
6. In another traditional “Union Wednesdays” event in the #LulaLivre Democratic Vigil, Antonio Firmino and Pablo Sergio Mendes, directors of the Bank Tellers and Finance Workers Union in Greater Curitiba, led a public conversation. They spoke with activists about the importance of the Caixa Economica Federal and Banco do Brasil as strategic, public banks.
7. There were also moments of music and poetry this afternoon at the Vigil, with the artist João Belo, who entertained the activists with songs and poems. “Lula faked out destiny/with vast courage and struggle/broke the shell of caste/reserved for the north-easterners/didn’t inherit land/didn’t go through the academy/and in coming down from that old truck/instead of becoming a delinquent/transformed himself into the President,” said a passage from his poem, Lula é o Cara.
8. The events of the day ended with the “good night” yell to President Lula, which was led by Parana State Congressman Pericles de Melo (PT). The CUT Parana communications secretary Márcio Kieller reminded everyone that tomorrow the Vigil will complete 90 dais and the resistance continues strongly, defending freedom for Lula and denouncing his totally arbitrary imprisonment to the world.
Bulletin 136 – People’s Committee in Defense of Lula and Democracy
Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil – 7/04/2018 – 8:20 PM
