Once wildly popular, Brazil’s ex-president ‘Lula’ da Silva jailed for corruption | World News - Hindustan Times
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Once wildly popular, Brazil’s ex-president ‘Lula’ da Silva jailed for corruption

Agencies, Curitiba | By
Apr 08, 2018 10:35 PM IST

Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will serve his 12-year sentence for money laundering and corruption in a Curitiba jail. Silva said he was turning himself in so as to continue fighting the charges he said amounted to a way for enemies to make sure he doesn’t run for the October re-election.

Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was spending his first night in jail, a stunning fall from grace for a man who rose from nothing to lead Latin America’s largest nation and later became engulfed in corruption allegations.

Former Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is carried by supporters in front of the metallurgic trade union in Sao Bernardo do Campo, Brazil, on April 7, 2018. Police had push through a mass of supporters who tried to prevent da Silva from surrendering.(Reuters)
Former Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is carried by supporters in front of the metallurgic trade union in Sao Bernardo do Campo, Brazil, on April 7, 2018. Police had push through a mass of supporters who tried to prevent da Silva from surrendering.(Reuters)

Foreshadowing possible clashes in the weeks to come, police shot rubber bullets and sprayed tear gas late Saturday at supporters waiting for da Silva as he landed in a police helicopter in the southern city of Curitiba, where he will serve his 12-year sentence for money laundering and corruption.

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Just a few hours before that, da Silva had to have guards push their way out of a metal workers union in a Sao Paulo suburb so he could turn himself in to police; supporters were trying to keep him from going into custody.

Read | Lula behind bars in Brazil: A deathblow for Latin America’s left?

Speaking to thousands of supporters at the union that was the spiritual birthplace of da Silva’s rise to prominence, the former leader said would turn himself in so as to continue fighting a corruption conviction that he said amounted to a way for enemies to make sure he doesn’t run — and possibly win — re-election in October.

‘Free Lula’

When he first tried to leave the metal workers union headquarters, however, dozens of supporters blocked a gate where a car carrying da Silva was trying to exit.

“Surround, surround (the building) and don’t let them arrest him,” chanted supporters. After a few minutes of tense words between guards and supporters, the former president got out of the car and entered the headquarters.

Police vehicles surrounded the union, raising the fears of clashes. Da Silva emerged a second time shortly after nightfall, this time surrounded by bodyguards who pushed back scores of supporters who tried to stop his advance.

Such dramatic scenes throughout the day underscored the drama that has rapt a nation deeply divided on da Silva’s legacy and whether he is guilty of corruption. The latest developments began when the Supreme Federal Tribunal, the country’s top court, ruled against his petition on Thursday to remain free while he continued to appeal his conviction.

Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (centre) is carried by supporters in front of the metallurgic trade union in Sao Bernardo do Campo, Brazil, on April 7, 2018. Former US president Barack Obama once called da Silva the “most popular politician on Earth”. (Reuters)
Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (centre) is carried by supporters in front of the metallurgic trade union in Sao Bernardo do Campo, Brazil, on April 7, 2018. Former US president Barack Obama once called da Silva the “most popular politician on Earth”. (Reuters)

Judge Sergio Moro, who oversees many of the so-called “Car Wash” cases, then ordered an arrest warrant for da Silva, giving him until 5 pm Friday to present himself to police in Curitiba, about 417 kilometers southwest of Sao Bernardo do Campo, and begin serving his 12-year sentence.

Da Silva, who Brazilians simply call “Lula,” did no such thing. Instead, he hunkered down with supporters in the union headquarters.

“The police and ‘Car Wash’ investigators lied. The prosecutors lied,” said da Silva, as a few thousand supporters cheered.

“I don’t forgive them for giving society the idea that I am a thief,” he continued.

Still, da Silva said he would turn himself in “to go there and face them eye to eye. The more days they leave me (in jail), the more Lulas will be born in this country.”

While da Silva spoke, some people cried while others chanted “Free Lula!” When he finished speaking, a sea of supporters carried him on their shoulders back into the building.

Mauricio Santoro, a political science professor at the State University of Rio de Janeiro, said that by not complying with the order on Friday da Silva “wanted to demonstrate strength and popularity, showing that he is a political leader capable of gathering a crowd in his support”.

Choosing the metal workers union to take refuge, and not the Workers’ Party headquarters, was also significant, said Santoro.

“It shows that he wants to emphasize his trajectory as leader of a social movement, rather than his role as leader of a party marked by allegations of corruption,” he said.

Emotional farewell

In an emotional hourlong speech before his arrest, Lula called himself “an outraged citizen” over the graft conviction.

He said that Brazil’s top anti-corruption judge, Sergio Moro, “lied” about him being given the apartment by a big construction firm as a kickback.

“I am the only human being to be put on trial for an apartment that does not belong to me,” he said.

Lula accused the judiciary and Brazil’s most powerful media conglomerate of assisting a right-wing coup with the ultimate aim of preventing him from competing in the race.

“They don’t want me to take part,” he said. “Their obsession is to get a photo of Lula as a prisoner.”

But, crucially, Lula said he would drop his dramatic show of resistance and comply with the arrest warrant.

After the speech, Lula was lifted onto the shoulders of supporters who chanted, “I am Lula.”

The rise and fall

Last year, Moro convicted da Silva of trading favours with a construction company in exchange for the promise of a beachfront apartment. That conviction was upheld by an appeals court in January. The former president has always denied wrongdoing in that case and in several other corruption cases that have yet to be tried.

Still, his jailing marks a colossal fall from grace for a man who rose from poverty to power against steep odds in one of the world’s most unequal countries. During his two administrations, several social welfare programs and a booming economy helped tens of millions come out of abject poverty, making his downfall deeply personal for many Brazilians who saw him as a symbol of hope.

A supporter of former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva waves a flag with Lula's face during a protest against sentencing him to serve a 12-year prison sentence for corruption, in front of the Federal Police headquarters, in Curitiba, Brazil, on April 7, 2018. (Reuters)
A supporter of former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva waves a flag with Lula's face during a protest against sentencing him to serve a 12-year prison sentence for corruption, in front of the Federal Police headquarters, in Curitiba, Brazil, on April 7, 2018. (Reuters)

Born in the hardscrabble northeast, da Silva rose through the ranks of the union in the country’s industrial south. In 1980, during the military dictatorship, he was arrested in Sao Bernardo do Campo for organizing strikes. He would spend more than a month in jail.

After running for president several times, in 2002 da Silva finally won. He governed from 2003 to 2010, leaving office an international celebrity and with approval ratings in the high 80s.

Former US President Barack Obama once called da Silva the “most popular politician on Earth”.

Tough re-election

After his arrest, fireworks and cheering broke out in parts of Brasilia, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and other cities among those who long considered Lula responsible for the tide of graft sweeping over Brazilian politics.

But supporters cried openly at the exit of a man they remember for removing tens of millions of people from poverty and for connecting with voters in a way few, if any, other modern Brazilian politicians have managed.

Like so much in a nation that has become deeply polarized, that da Silva would soon be behind bars was being interpreted differently by supporters and detractors.

“We have no choice but to keep our head high. Our struggle will be bigger tomorrow,” said Fernando Lauro, a supporter who watched da Silva be taken by police.

“I hope he never gets out, but I fear he will,” said Silvia Gend, a 72-year-old housewife in Sao Bernardo do Campo. “Brazil is the country of impunity.”

Workers’ Party leaders insist that da Silva, 72, will still be the party’s candidate in October. Technically, being jailed does not keep him off the ballot.

In August, however, the country’s top electoral court makes final decisions about candidacies. It is expected to deny da Silva’s candidacy under Brazil’s “clean slate” law, which disqualifies people who have had criminal convictions upheld. Da Silva could appeal, though doing so from jail would be more complicated.

The next potentially explosive legal development could come as early as Wednesday, when local media report that the Supreme Court may revisit the current law on incarceration during appeals.

The former leader is the latest of many high-profile people to be ensnared in possibly the largest corruption scandal in Latin American history. Over the last four years, Brazilians have seen near weekly police operations and arrests of the elite.

Investigators uncovered a major scheme in which construction companies essentially formed a cartel that doled out inflated contracts from state oil company Petrobras, paying billions in kickbacks to politicians and businessmen.

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