Ex-presidents show grief over Campos’s death
“The country loses a public man of rare and extraordinary quality. I was delighted to be able to rely on his intelligence and hard work in the years in which he was our Minister of Science and Technology,” Lula recalled in a note
Former Presidents Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Fernando Henrique Cardoso have expressed their grief over the death of presidential candidate Eduardo Campos, from the Brazilian Socialist Party (“PBS”) in an air crash that took place on Wednesday morning and killed seven people.
“The country loses a public man of rare and extraordinary quality. I was delighted to be able to rely on his intelligence and hard work in the years in which he was our Minister of Science and Technology. Over the course of his life, Campos struggled to make Brazil a more just and dignified country,” Lula said through a note issued by the Instituto Lula. He extended his feelings of “compassion to his relatives and also to the relatives of his team as well as crew members who passed away in this terrible accident.”
Fernando Henrique Cardoso
On his Facebook page, Fernando Henrique also showed regret over Campos’s death. “No words can ease the losses. Nonetheless, I convey my condolences, my feelings of sadness and grief to the relations of the victims of the accident.”
Cardoso further noted that he had always held the former governor of Pernambuco in great respect, and that it is the country that will suffer most bitterly for the bereavement. “Just when we need young and competent leaders, we lost one of our best. His national career was just beginning. Regardless of whether or not he would win the election, he would be a leader for the political reform of which we are so much in need. It’s a irreparable loss,” he stated.
Eduardo Campos, who died at 49, governed the state of Pernambuco from 2006 to 2014 and was the Ministry of Science and Technology during Lula’s first term of office, and also a federal deputy for Pernambuco.
Translated by Fabrício Ferreira
Fonte: Ex-presidents show grief over Campos’s death
