On Monday receiving the diploma accrediting him as the winner of the elections, the president-elect of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, affirmed that with his victory the people “reconquered the right to live in democracy”, and criticized the “perverse” legacy ” of Jair Bolsonaro.
“I want you to know that this diploma is not a diploma from President Lula, it is from the people who reconquered the right to live in democracy in this country,” he said during an act held at the headquarters of the Superior Electoral Tribunal (TSE), in Brasilia, in which he was accredited as president-elect before nearly 300 guests.
Lula burst into tears at the beginning of his speech and recalled the “so many times he has been questioned for not having a university diploma.” “I want to apologize for the emotion”, but “what I have been through in recent years is proof that God exists and the greatness of the people […] I know how much this wait has cost the people,” he said with a broken voice.
Lula stressed that in the last elections “democracy won”, despite the fact that Brazilian society was “poisoned” with “lies produced in the underworld of social networks”, which spread “hate” and generated “political violence”.
He expressed that his electoral victory was possible thanks to the formation of a coalition of a dozen parties from the left, center and right, united against authoritarianism.
“I am aware that this front was based on the commitment to defend democracy, which is the origin of my struggle and the destiny of this country,” he added.
He denounced “the deliberate process of disassembling” the public policies of the government “of national destruction” of Jair Bolsonaro, whose “perverse legacy”, he said, falls on the poorest.
He also condemned the attacks by the head of state against “democratic institutions”, which, he said, is not exclusive to Brazil, but to the entire world.
“The machine for attacking democracy has no homelands or borders,” he emphasized, calling for the use of advanced technologies and “tougher and more efficient” laws against false news.
“We will never renounce freedom of expression, but we will defend the right to information without lies or manipulation to the end,” he completed.
Announces vice president-elect of Brazil start of transition
“Democracy is having quality food, employment, health, education, security and housing” and “it only makes sense to the extent that it promotes opportunities for everyone,” he said.
This is the third time that Lula has received the diploma as president-elect, since he already governed the country in two other periods, between 2003 and 2010.
“I receive the diploma for the third time in the name of freedom, dignity and happiness of the Brazilian people”, he concluded.
EFE/OnCuba.
