Luiz Inacio Lula de Silva, a former president of Brazil, has taken aim at the current officeholder, Jair Bolsonaro, accusing him of reactionary tendencies in an interview with the Guardian newspaper published on Friday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd November, 2019) Luiz Inacio Lula de Silva, a former president of Brazil, has taken aim at the current officeholder, Jair Bolsonaro, accusing him of reactionary tendencies in an interview with the Guardian newspaper published on Friday."Bolsonaro has already made clear what he wants for Brazil: he wants to destroy all of the democratic and social conquests from the last several decades," Lula de Silva told the news outlet.
He noted that his Workers' Party was ready to mount a political comeback, but did not say that he would run for the presidency in 2022.
"In 2022, I'll be 77. The Catholic church � with 2,000 years of experience � retires its bishops at 75," he said.
Lula de Silva also criticized Bolsonaro's foreign policy, in particular, his friendly relations with US President Donald Trump.
"His submission to Trump and the US ... is really embarrassing," the former president said.
Lula de Silva, or simply Lula as he is affectionately called by his supporters, along with the late Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, and Evo Morales of Bolivia, was one of the leaders of the leftist political resurgence in Latin America that occurred in the early 2000s. He served as president of Brazil from 2003-2010, earning himself a reputation as one of Brazil's most successful politicians.
Lula was caught in the ongoing Operation car Wash criminal investigation into a massive web of political corruption centered around the state-controlled Petrobras oil company, which tanked Lula's successor, Dilma Rousseff, and opened the door for Bolsonaro. In 2018, Lula was placed in prison for alleged corruption, where he stayed until he was released by the country's supreme court on November 8.
