Impeachment orchestrated by gang, Lula says
Former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
Former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said Monday (Apr. 26) that the impeachment process against President Dilma Rousseff is being led by a “legislative gang.” The statement was made during a meeting held by the Progressive Alliance, an international association of left-wing parties and organizations. Lula's speech was read out by an assistant because of a hoarse throat.
“An opportunistic alliance between the mainstream media, the opposition parties, and a veritable legislative gang implemented the agenda of chaos,” the text read. After Lula's speech was read aloud, the former president made a few impromptu remarks. In his view, deputies did not reasonably consider the arguments on which the impeachment case against Rousseff is based. “What we had was a firing squad, spearheaded by the biggest source of repugnance in politics.”
“This operation was led by the lower house speaker, who's been charged with two counts of corruption and was caught red-handed when he lied about his secret accounts in Switzerland,” Lula said. One of the goals of Dilma Rousseff's impeachment petition, he maintains, is to stifle investigations and the fight against corruption in the country. “The coup-mongers want the power back in order to control politics and intimidate the Public Prosecution Office and the country's court system, as they did in the past,” he argued.
The former president likened the current proceedings against the Brazilian president to the coup that marked the beginning of the period of military dictatorship in 1964. The arguments used today are, Lula believes, similar to the ones adopted to overthrow governments and start Nazi and fascist regimes in Germany and Italy early in the 20th century. “The argument's always the same: putting an end to corruption. That's how Hitler grew, that's how Mussolini grew, and that's how the right wing grows in every country in Latin America.”
To Lula's judgment, political and economic crises are growing worse all across the world, particularly in Latin America. “We had never faced a similar situation since the 1929 crisis. We have the whole rich world defeated, the BRICS [Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa] experiencing major problems, and Latin America moving backwards, not just from the economic perspective, but also from the perspective of democracy,” he stated.
Translated by Fabrício Ferreira
Fonte: Impeachment orchestrated by gang, Lula says
