Lula doubled the bet. He decided to confront the capital market and the entire financial system, while choosing to ignore public opinion and give no satisfaction for accepting a jet ride from a businessman accused of corruption.
The Presidentelect’s visit to Egypt’s COP27 could have been a wholly propitious event for the PT. But Lula didn’t hold back. Again, even before taking office, he played for the already won audience at the elections, sending a banana to those with whom he promised to “pacify the country.”
Learning of the market’s fears after his tax audit and public accounts explanations, he said what was considered alarming by the people who care about investments and capital: “Will the stock market go down, will the dollar go up? Patience”.
It’s either too detached from reality or Lula will stretch the rope to an unprecedented position. Adding to the damage among those who fear a government that strays from liberal ideas in business is the concern of Brazilians, who remember a PT embroiled in nepotism and corruption schemes.
Lula chose not to explain the reasons that led him to take the unwanted and unnecessary ride. But he does not shy away from sending out a signal that he will not please the financial market, the economy and foreign investors either. He runs the risk of speaking alone to his staunch admirers — which, as we know, would not be enough to replace (and keep) him in the presidency of the republic.