Curitiba, Paraná,Brazil 4/18/2018 – 8:30 PM
- This afternoon, the hundreds of people who participated in activities in the Democratic Vigil #LulaLivre camp in Curitiba received a special message from the ex-President of the Republic, who is incarcerated in the Federal Police headquarters as a political prisoner. The message was delivered by his defense team and reads as follows: “Dear comrades, you are my cry of freedom every day. If I had never done a thing in my life beyond building this friendship with you, this would be fulfillment enough. It was worth being born and will be worth dying for you.” The message was read by the national Vice President of PT, Márcio Macedo, during a political protest in which João Paulo Rodrigues, national director of the MST, and ex-Minister of Lula’s government, Celso Amorim also participated.
- On Monday, April 16, Lula received a letter of support from the United Steelworkers Union , which represents 850,000 workers in the US, Canada and the Caribbean. In the document, they reaffirm their partnership of 40 years with Lula and the confidence in his commitment to the workers of the World. The Union questions the lack of evidence in the judgment and the risk that this causes for Brazilian democracy, and demands that Lula be freed and allowed to run in the 2018 presidential elections.
- On Wednesday April 18, Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, Argentinian Nobel Prize laureate and director of an international human rights organization, was prohibited by the Brazilian judiciary from inspecting ex-President Lula’s incarceration conditions. The prohibition was made by Federal Judge Carolina Moura Lebbos, from the 12thDistrict Federal Court of Curitiba, in violation of the UN’s Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, an international treaty that Brazil adheres to. Esquivel criticized the decision and said, “Democracy in Latin America is at risk.”
- On the night of Wednesday, April 18, Esquivel is participating in the event, “The Fundamental Rights of Democracy and the Constitution of Spring,” promoted by the Circo da Democracia and the Forum of Lawyers for Democracy, in the Parana Federal University (UFPR) Dean’s Office Theater, in Curitiba. The event will feature artistic presentations by Leticia Sabatella, Forró de Rebeca and Samba Coboclo and will be broadcast live on this page:https://www.facebook.com/CircodaDemocracia
- Today Maria de Jesus Oliveira da Costa, better known as Tia Zélia, Lula’s favorite cook, visited the Democratic Vigil #LulaLivre camp. Tia Zélia left her restaurant, which she has run since 1998 on the Via Planalto in Brasilia, to come to Curitiba where she prepared Lula’s favorite dishes for the people in the camp, including ground beef with vegetables, a dish which she calls “boi ralado”. Tia Zélia says that Lula is “a role model” for Brazil. “I am defending Lula not because he was president,” she said, “but because he is human and he is humble”.
- Another #LulaLivre camp was installed this Wednesday, April 18. Around 400 families, connected to the Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra (MST) and the Frente Brasil Popular and Povo Sem Medo popular fronts installed a campsite in downtown João Pessoa, the capital of Paraiba. More details at Brasil de Fato newspaper’s website: www.brasildefato.com.br
- Ex-Minister Miguel Rossetto visited the camp in Curitiba and spent a good part of the day talking with people at the Democratic Vigil. “Lula represents the Brazilian people, the Latin-American people. He represents a Brazil that was respected in the whole World and helped build a Latin America and a World that is more and more fair. This is why we are here,” said Rossetto.
Bulletin 33 – People’s Committee for the Defense of Lula and Democracy
Curitiba, 4/18/2018 – 8:30 PM
