Lula says Brazil was “abandoned” under Bolsonaro

Lula says Brazil was “abandoned” under Bolsonaro

Most ministries were understaffed and lacked social policies, Lula insisted

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said Monday that his country was “abandoned” by the government before his and, therefore, “much remains to be done,” Agencia Brasil reported.

Lula made those remarks during his opening speech at the first cabinet meeting of 2024. He also recalled that his administration came very close to suffering a coup d’état.

“We still have a lot to do in all areas. And a lot is nothing strange; it’s everything we pledged to do during the electoral contest. We’ve already spent a year and three months of our mandate, and you can see how little we’ve done and, at the same time, how much we’ve done. I doubt that anyone would have been able to do it if it hadn’t been for the individual efforts of each one of you,” Lula noted.

In his view, Bolsonaro was concerned with “stimulating hatred between people” instead of thinking about social policies. Lula also stressed that many ministries were understaffed and lacked social inclusion policies while others had been closed down, such as the Ministry of Culture.

“So, everyone here is aware of the rubble they received when we took office,” Lula insisted, citing the social and educational programs resumed under him, in addition to tackling unemployment and opening 98 new markets for Brazilian agricultural products.

The president also addressed the testimonies of former Armed Forces chiefs to the Federal Police (PF) which showed that Brazil “ran a serious risk” of entering a new anti-democratic period following the attempted coup d’état on Jan. 8, 2023, when the headquarters of the Three Branches of Government were stormed in Brasilia.

“If, three months ago, when we talked about a coup it seemed like just an insinuation, today we are certain that this country is at serious risk of a coup because of the 2022 elections,” said Lula, who also praised the officers for refusing to join the coup plan.

According to statements given to the Federal Police (PF) by the former commanders of the Army, Marco Antonio Freire Gomes, and the Air Force, Carlos Almeida Baptista Júnior, Bolsonaro was at the center of the conspiracies for a democratic rupture.

For Lula, now is the time to strengthen democracy. “The people were wiser, braver, and we are here with the task of doing something very important, which is not just solving the problem of the economy, health, transportation, agriculture, we have to solve something much more serious, which is the consolidation of the democratic process in this country. Democracy has become fundamental in our lives,” he said.

Regarding Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira’s absence at Monday’s meeting, Lula explained that he was traveling to the Middle East. “He went to visit the situation in Palestine, the West Bank, and he also went to visit other countries and take a message, a message from the Brazilians there” in the middle of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

(Source: Agencia Brasil)