The former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silvafavorite for Sunday’s elections, warned this Tuesday that “there are those who want to build white supremacy” in Brazil next to President Jair Bolsonaro, who is running for re-election.
“We are living in a time of racism, a more violent racism than some time ago,” said Lula, leader of all the polls, at an event with athletes from different modalities held at a hotel in the city of Sao Paulo, five days after the elections.
We need you, who understand sports in Brazil, to think of a great sports policy. What a part of the day to day of povo, das cities. That is or I appeal that I did for you, and I thank you or found the page.
?: @ricardotuckert pic.twitter.com/h7ydW0WboH
– Lula 13 (@LulaOficial) September 27, 2022
According to a dispatch from the agency Ephthe former head of state recalled, as an example, one of the acts promoted by Bolsonaro, the highest leader of the extreme right in Latin America, on September 7, within the framework of the celebrations for the 200 years of the Independence of Brazil.
“I saw the scene of that act that Bolsonaro did on September 7 and it was white supremacy, it was a very crazy thing,” denounced the progressive leader, whom the latest polls place with an advantage of between 10 and 15 percentage points over the current ruler.
Among the personalities present on that stage, the candidate for the Workers’ Party (PT) cited the “old man from Havan”, alluding to businessman Luciano Hang, owner of the “Havan” retail chain and one of the biggest speakers of the extreme right that supports Bolsonaro.
“It is not possible that there are still people wanting to build white supremacy” in the country, Lula complained.
The 76-year-old former mechanical turner also alluded to social networks as another factor that has contributed to this increase in cases of racism in the country, especially in sports. “This here (pointing to a cell phone) hides the face of the bandit, hides the guy who has prejudices,” he pointed out.
Lula against Bolsonaro: one week before the elections in Brazil
In this sense, he asked the leaders of the soccer clubs, the king of sports in Brazil, “to have a little more political openness” and to promote among the new generations “an awareness of the social problems” of the country, because “racism has to be fought daily.
Lula, who governed Brazil between 2003 and 2010, is the great favorite for the presidential elections on Sunday, according to all the polls, which attribute more than 45% of the support to him, compared to around 30% that Bolsonaro would obtain.
With information from Eph.
