Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil – 7/19/2018 – 8:30 PM
1. In an article published by the Folha de São Paulo newspaper this Thursday, ex-President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva takes stock of the over 100 days in which he has been detained as a political prisoner, and criticizes judge Carolina Lebbos’ decision to prevent him from giving interviews or recording videos. “What are the people who don’t want me to speak afraid that I will say? It seems like it isn’t enough to arrest me, they want to silence me.” Lula also challenged his critics, “Do you want to beat me? Do this cleanly, at the polls.” Read the article here: http://www.pt.org.br/artigo-do-lula-na-folha-de-s-paulo-afaste-de-mim-este-cale-se/
2. After visiting the ex-President along with Lula Institute Director Paulo Okamoto, the former Congressman and National Vice President of PT, Márcio Macedo, said at a press conference that Lula has a “full tank” to run for office in October. “He has a lot of energy, he has a great desire to be President and he is definitely a candidate,” he said. Macedo also said that Lula, “is angry with the injustice that he is suffering due to his illegal, irregular and unfair imprisonment,” and that he is very sad with what the current government has been doing to the Brazilian people, suppressing social and labor rights and dismantling the nation’s patrimony.
3. While speaking with the activists in the lot occupied by the Vigil, Paulo Okamoto said that Lula is hearing the good morning and good afternoon shouts from the activists better than ever and that now he can see the top of the camp coordination tent from his cell. He suggested that messages to the ex-President be placed on top of the tent.
4. The “good afternoon” shout to Lula this Thursday was led by Silvane dos Santos, director of the APP Union, which represents public school teachers in Paraná. She read a poem written by William Ernest Henley for Nelson Mandela and dedicated it to Lula. “It matters not how strait the gate, How charged with punishments the scroll, I am the master of my fate,I am the captain of my soul,” says the final verse of the poem.
5. This afternoon a turban making workshop was held for the women in the #LulaLivre Vigil. Ana Carolina Dartara, the PT activist who facilitated the workshop, said that the activity was a way of reaffirming black resistance and honoring Nelson Mandela and ex-President Lula, who’s government fought social inequality and worked for racial equality.
6. This afternoon, Juliana Bonassa, from the Landless Rural Worker’s Movement’s (MST) Culture of Movement Collective, facilitated a discussion about art, the body and freedom. “We don’t think of culture as consumption, but as a way of organizing life, what we eat, what we wear and how to choose our fights. We are building culture in search of emancipation,” she said.
7. Supreme Electoral Court (TSE) Vice President, Minister Rosa Weber, denied a motion yesterday, July 18th, from the far-right activist group Movimento Brasil Livre (MBL) to declare Lula ineligible to register as a candidate for the presidency. For the PT lawyer Luiz Fernando Pereira, the group’s action was a publicity stunt designed to “collect social media likes.”
8. On August 15, there will be a huge march to Brasilia to support Lula’s registration as candidate for the presidency of the Republic in the Supreme Electoral Court. Thousands of people from all over Brazil will participate in the act in defense of the candidate who will make Brazil strong and respected around the world again, with jobs, dignified wages and social justice. Pamphlets to help mobilize people for the march can be downloaded here: http://www.pt.org.br/baixe-aqui-o-panfleto-para-o-registro-da-candidatura-de-lula
Bulletin 151 – People’s Committee in Defense of Lula and Democracy
Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil – 7/19/2018 – 8:30 PM
