In an event to commemorate the anniversary of the PT, Argentine President Alberto Fernández criticized Brazilian justice for having condemned former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and the right to disrespect human freedom.
“These things which animate the law are not those which animate progressivism, because we place a great value on human freedom, the rights of men and women. And the last thing we want is that somehow these rights are lost or expire, ”Fernández said in a pre-recorded message sent to an online debate about Lula’s alleged judicial persecution. .
The virtual table, presented on Monday (22), was coordinated by Fernando Haddad, former mayor of São Paulo, and was part of the series of events organized by the party to celebrate its 41st birthday.
Former French presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon and criminal lawyer Antônio Carlos de Almeida Castro, Kakay, also participated.
Fernández was careful in his 20-minute speech not to mention President Jair Bolsonaro’s name, although he made indirect references to his government.
One example was when he attacked the so-called “lawfare”, a name given by Lula’s defenders to a so-called legal guerrilla strategy for political ends.
“Lawfare, this damn mechanism that has hit Brazil and other parts of the continent and which has allowed the press and the judiciary to connect mainly to persecute opponents of the political regime at the moment,” he said. said.
He later made a critical reference to the fact that former judge Sergio Moro, responsible for Lula’s arrest, had been appointed minister by Bolsonaro.
He said the arrest of the ex-president was “a cause built by a judge who circulated across the continent showing himself to be a champion in the fight against corruption and ended up being justice minister of the ‘current government of Brazil’.
During his speech, Fernández compared Lula’s case to that of other left-wing leaders on the continent who had problems with justice, such as former presidents Rafael Corrêa (Ecuador), Cristina Kirchner (Argentina) and Evo Morales ( Bolivia).
He said that fortunately the situation in these countries has been reversed, with the rehabilitation of these leaders, and said he hopes the same will happen in Brazil.
“In Latin America, what has happened in recent days is reversed. The change started in Argentina, then in Bolivia, surely in Ecuador. And I am convinced that in Brazil, change will come in whatever happens, ”he said.
The Argentine leader made several commendable references to Lula and said he was right when he defended him at the time of his arrest.
“Now, thank God, there is evidence of Lula’s persecution. I celebrate this because I have always trusted Lula. And many have criticized me. Time proved me right, ”he said.
In the past, Fernández’s praise for Lula has been used by Bolsonaro as a reason for the distance between the two governments, although a rapprochement has recently been underway.
For the Argentine leader, we must fight against a “monster”, which unites the press and the judiciary to try to convince the population that the innocent are guilty, for political reasons.
“You have to fight a huge monster. A monster that does not listen to justice and a monster that attacks it relentlessly in the media, ”he said.
Before him, Mélenchon, who was a left-wing presidential candidate in 2012 and 2017, also attacked Lula’s conviction. He said the Lava Jato method has served as a model for other parts of the world.
“The persecution against Lula was an opportunity for awareness that led us to examine what was going on in the world. The Brazilian case was a kind of antechamber to a political method that has spread, ”he said.
During the debate, congratulatory messages were broadcast by various left parties in the PT. Among them, congratulatory votes from the dictatorships of Nicaragua, Cuba, China, Vietnam and North Korea, as well as statements from left-wing parties in democratic countries such as Portugal, Italy and Mexico .