the hope of Lula’s “historical” activists

Christina and her “companions of struggle” almost already sing a song of victory while towing in front of a metro station in the Copacabana district of Rio. They want to believe in the victory of Lula, to whom the polls give a comfortable lead against outgoing President Jair Bolsonaro, for the first round of the presidential election to be held on Sunday, October 2, in Brazil. If he wins the election, he will make a comeback twenty years after being elected president of the country for the first time.

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At the same time galvanized by a possible victory and worried by the climate of violence of the countryside, the militants who lived through the creation of his Workers’ Party more than forty years ago have been waiting for this moment for a long time, like Christina. This Brazilian teacher, who lives between Rio and Strasbourg, returned especially to her country to take part in Lula’s campaign. The leader’s verve and ability to negotiate have always impressed her: “I have been Lula since 1979, when it was still the military dictatorship. We held general assemblies and one day Lula came to an GA. It was the first time I saw Lula”.

Suddenly serious-faced, Workers’ Party activists recall how they felt when he was jailed for corruption in 2018, after serving as president from 2003 to 2011. “Powerlessness, sadness, injustice, despair”, they let go. They were among the activists who came every day to greet him with a megaphone under the windows of his prison in Curitiba, in the south of the country. “It still moves me to think about that”, entrusts Christina, who herself spoke on the megaphone directly to the former head of state.

For Sébastiana, the former head of state is the only one capable of raising Brazil in the midst of an economic slump.

“Lula was the president of everyone, especially the president of the poor. For the first time, we had a leader with a long-term vision for Brazil”

Sebastiana, supporter of Lula

at franceinfo

But their enthusiasm also hides their concern, after a violent campaign. “You should know that this guy freed the purchase of weapons”, points Christina speaking of Jair Bolsonaro. For her, the bolsonarists have not said their last word. “Do not forget that he still has 30%. So Bolsonaro can lose the elections but Bolsonarism was born. These people who came out of the sewers, they arrived at the surface. It will be difficult to send them back”, is sorry Christine. So if Lula wins, the teacher will celebrate the victory at home rather than in the street.