Bulletin 163 – People’s Committee in Defense of Lula and Democracy
Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil – 7/31/2018 – 7:46 PM
- On this Tuesday, July 31, a group of social movement leaders began a hunger strike which will continue for an indeterminate amount of time, in demand for the release of ex-President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. They filed a manifesto in the Supreme Court in which they affirm that “Judicial branch of government is violating the Constitution by impeding the people to sovereignly decide, by vote, on their president and the future of their country,” in a reference to Lula’s political imprisonment. Read more here: http://www.pt.org.br/grupo-da-inicio-a-ato-extremo-no-stf-por-liberdade-de-lula/
- After visiting ex-President Lula on this Tuesday, July 31, Fernando Haddad, coordinator of the PT Government Plan, confirmed that the Michel Temer government should immediately suspend the processing of structural adjustments so that the next president can debate them with the population. He said that he hopes that this next president will be Lula, with all of the legitimacy of the popular vote to deliver the demands of society. Read more here: http://www.pt.org.br/golpistas-deveriam-suspender-venda-de-patrimonio-diz-haddad/
- In a communique called, “In Defense of Democracy in Brazil”, the Executive directorship of the AFL-CIO – the largest union confederation in the United States – defended the immediate release of Lula. In the document, the union leaders appeal to the Brazilian judiciary to undo the judicial farce promoted by judge Sergio Moro and also to protect Lula’s fundamental rights to due process and a fair trail in accordance with the Brazilian Constitution, which does not allow anyone to be imprisoned until their appeals processes have been exhausted. Read the communique here: https://aflcio.org/about/leadership/statements/defending-democracy-brazil
- A study made by AJA Solutions reveals that the engagement with ex-President Lula on Facebook and in the social media has been steadily increasing since May. The total number of likes, reactions, shares and comments on posts on Lula’s official page (www.fb.com/lula) finished at over 15 million for July – a 12% increase in relation to the previous month. Read more here:
http://www.pt.org.br/Lula-assume-a-lideranca-de-engajamento-no-facebook/
- The ‘good afternoon’ shout to ex-President Lula today was led by Professor José Henrique Artigas, from the Universidade Federal da Paraiba. After the greeting to Lula, Adriana Prestes read the poem, “Vigil in Prose and Verse,” which was written collectively by the MST Cultural Collective. The poem refers to the Vigil’s neighbors: “Those who opened their doors and their hearts/Those who gave us water and bread/Thankfulness!/We’ve gained new brothers”.
- This afternoon, on July 31st, another session of Lula Cinema was held, with a showing of the movie “Olga” in the Vigil tent. Directed by Jayme Monjardim, the film tells the story of Olga Benário, a German communist activist who lived in Brazil, where she fell in love with Luiz Carlos Prestes. Deported, she was killed by the Nazis.
- This Saturday, July 28th, the Lula Livre Vigil planted over 100 trees in the Santa Cândida neighborhood, where the Federal Police headquarters building where Lula has been held for 115 days as a political prisoner is located. The action was made by the Solidarity Work Brigade and is one of several which they are developing, with the goal of thanking neighborhood residents for their solidarity and raising consciousness of those who are against the democratic resistance on the pacific character of the movement to free Lula. Learn more here: https://lula.com.br/vigilia-lula-livre-refloresta-bairro-santa-candida/
- Lula was “the person who invested the most in social inclusion for the less privileged here in Brazil,” said professor Sílvia Ester Orrú, from the University of Brasilia, as she received the III International Essay Prize for Education and Learning, in Paris, France. She dedicated the prize to Lula and said that she will send him a copy of her work, “In reinventing inclusion: the challenges of difference in the process of teaching and learning,” which won the prize. See more here: http://www.pt.org.br/professora-da-unb-recebe-premio-em-paris-e-o-dedica-a-lula/
Bulletin 163 – People’s Committee in Defense of Lula and Democracy
Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil – 7/31/2018 – 7:46 PM
