By Osvaldo Cardosa
Correspondent in Brazil
For the sixth time, the former mechanical turner with the energy of 30 years, as he defines himself, will face another test in a second round on Sunday, October 30th. He did it in 1989, 1994 and 1998 and only won in 2002 and 2006.
The rigged actions of Lava Jato’s disabled judicial operation, led by former coordinator Deltan Dallagnol and former judge Sérgio Moro, were enough to remove Lula from the 2018 deliberations and pave the way for the far-right party’s electoral victory. Leaning President Jair Bolsonaro.
The Labor Party (PT) founder unjustly spent 580 days in political prison between April 2018 and November 2019, as proven in court.
As expected, the former president (2003-2011) later suffered an avalanche of accusations in court, but over time he showed impeccable truth and his unsurpassed moral purity.
Lula regained his eligibility and also recorded an impressive 26 court victories in the Federal Court of Justice.
FROM WORKER TO PRESIDENT
He was born in 1945 in a two-room house with dirt floors in the town of Caetés, in the state of Pernambuco (northeast). With no electricity, no sewage, bathrooms or shoes, the boy and his family traveled to Sao Paulo in search of wealth like thousands of other Brazilians, where he began working on the Santos dock to help with household expenses.
A hiker by the age of eight and a shoeshine boy by the age of nine, he became a dry-cleaning laborer in his early teens. As a 14-year-old employed in a steel works, he was admitted to the specialist field of machine turning.
Fascinated by the size and opportunities of the big city, Lula was persuaded to attend union meetings by a brother, a member of what was then the underground Communist Party of Brazil.
Turner and deputy union leader, he married at the age of 23. Two years later he lost his son and wife, eight months pregnant, a victim of hepatitis made worse by anemia and the negligence of the medical professionals who treated her.
With Miriam Cordeiro, one of the brides, he had his first daughter, Lurian. He remarried Marisa Leticia, also a widow, with whom he would have three children (Lula would also register his stepson Marcos, the woman’s descendant, who did not know his biological father). In 1975, before his 30th birthday, he became union leader.
He later entered politics. During the military dictatorship (1964-1985), the entire opposition was united in the Brazilian Democratic Movement. The two-party system ended with the regime’s breathlessness.
When political parties were allowed to form, there was a great deal of fragmentation, particularly due to the ideological diversity in the Democratic group.
This was the context in which the PT emerged, which was founded on February 10, 1980 and identified with left-wing ideas. Its founding manifesto defended banners such as workers’ political participation, building a party dedicated to the masses, and fighting against the current economic and political system.
The organization emerged as a promoter of change in the lives of urban and rural workers, left-wing militants, intellectuals and artists. Years later, Lula was a federal congressman and presidential candidate.
Now Lula wants to steer Brazil “onto the paths of sovereignty, development, justice and social inclusion, democracy and respect for the environment.”
Electoral justice confirmed that in the first ballot on Oct. 2, the PT leader was in first place with 48.43 percent of valid votes (excluding blanks and zero votes), and Bolsonaro, who is seeking re-election from the Liberal Party, had one 43.20.
Since none of the candidates in the dispute has achieved the absolute majority of votes, i.e. more than half of the valid votes (excluding blank and zero votes) as required by national legislation to be elected, they will challenge a second round of the referendum on 30 April October.
ABDICA WILL BE RE-ELECTED
Recently, Lula also said he’s waiting for the CEO to acknowledge the election consistency. “I hope if I win the election the current president will have a decent minute and call me to tell me the result,” he said.
He recalled that Bolsonaro “was elected MP by electronic ballot box. Only when he loses will he doubt? That is not possible,” he stressed, defending the integrity of the digital sockets and the voting system.
In another of his statements, the contender for power, popular in all opinion polls, ruled out re-election in 2026 if he wins on Sunday. “If elected, I will be president for one term. Leaders are made by work, by their commitment to the people,” Lula wrote on Twitter. Such a promise is not new, because since the campaign began in August, the PT candidate has specified that his challenge will be greater than in 2002 because he does not intend to seek a second term.
However, the G1 portal pointed out that the left-wing politician’s gesture, while not new, was a message to close allies and constituents, such as the vice-presidential candidate in his formula, former governor Geraldo Alckmin.
It is also a nod to his newest ally, Senator Simone Tebet (Brazilian Democratic Movement), who came third in the first round of voting. Lula’s signal, according to G1, opens up space for debate about a possible successor outside the PT camp in 2026.
Just three days after the historic referendum and amid a tense election campaign, Brazil is once again making a pilgrimage to an authentic power: the vote.
arb/ocs