Bulletin 405 – People’s Committee in Defense of Lula and Democracy
Curitiba – 03/31/2019 – 359 days of resistance – 6:10 pm
1. “Only in a democracy can the people go to the streets and demand their rights. After all, a democracy is not a pact of silence. It is rather a society in movement as it seeks new achievements. […] On a date such as this, we should remember our past and lament the periods of darkness through which we have passed, but we should also – and above all else – fight every day to broaden our democracy.” In 2014, on the 50th anniversary of Brazil’s military coup, former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva recorded a video in defense of freedom and democracy, the system which makes its people sovereign. Today, as a political prisoner, Lula was prevented from being able to demonstrate together with thousands of people all over Brazil who protested against the 1964 coup. Remember: https://bit.ly/1hbRXoD
2. This Saturday (March 30) former president Dilma Rousseff took part in the 3rd National Conference of the Brazil Popular Front, one of the leading organizations in the fight to free Lula. For Dilma, the arbitrary imprisonment of Lula was another step in the putschist process that removed her from office in 2016 and marked the start of the rollback of the rights of the Brazilian people. She also spoke about the symbolic importance of Lula, Brazil’s greatest political leader, and how the fight for Lula’s freedom is also a fight for democracy and equality. More information: https://pt.org.br/com-dilma-conferencia-da-fbp-pauta-luta-contra-governo-bolsonaro/
3. On the morning of this Sunday (March 31), the Free Lula Vigil welcomed more than 60 people who had come to express their solidarity and support for the former president. At about 2pm, the “Good afternoon, Lula!” yell was joined by the actress Guta Stresser and other artists from the Curitiba Theater Festival. On the 55th anniversary of the 1964 coup, those present at the Vigil sang “Caminhando e Cantando” (“Walking and Singing”) by Geraldo Vandré, a song known as the symbol of resistance during Brazil’s military dictatorship. Watch: https://bit.ly/2TO88DI
4. Workers’ Party (PT) members in Curitiba went to the streets this Sunday in an act of repudiation of the 1964 military coup and the statements of far-right president Jair Bolsonaro on the subject of the dictatorship. “We cannot allow this government to exalt such a dark time in our history, marked by torture, the absence of democracy and cuts to workers’ rights. So that it may never be repeated, we must reject dictatorship and expose the authoritarian outrages committed by this government,” said André Machado, the PT’s Curitiba chairman. See images of the event: https://bit.ly/2OyACjI
Bulletin 405 – People’s Committee in Defense of Lula and Democracy
Curitiba – 03/31/2019 – 359 days of resistance – 6:10 pm
