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News > Latin America

Cristina Fernandez: 'Brazil's Elites Blocking Lula's Candidacy Because They Know He'd Win'

  • Cristina Fernadez de Kirchner attends an event alongside Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

    Cristina Fernadez de Kirchner attends an event alongside Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. | Photo: Reuters

Published 2 September 2018
Opinion

The former Argentine president expressed her solidarity with Lula after the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) voted to ban the ex-president from participating in the October elections.

Brazil is preventing Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from running in the presidential elections because they know he would win, former Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner said on social media.

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Brazil: Electoral Authorities Ban Lula From Presidential Race

From her Twitter account, the senator showed her support for the Brazilian politician, who's been imprisoned since April for alleged crimes of corruption, after Brazil's Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) voted to ban ex-president Lula from participating in the October elections.

“Now they are preventing @LulaOficial from being a presidential candidate because they know that he would win the elections in October. Also, in Brazil, the media, together with the Judiciary, have destroyed the rule of law,” Fernandez wrote.

The former Argentine president is among the list of Latin America’s progressive politicians under investigation over corruption while in office and is to appear in court Monday. Among the others, Ecuador’s former state head, Rafael Correa is the latest victim of "lawfare" and the government of his former ally, Lenin Moreno, is threatening him of detention if he is to return to Ecuador from his country of residence, Belguim.

The former Brazilian president has been imprisoned since April in Curitiba after being found guilty on crimes of corruption, despite lack of evidence. He has appealed an earlier decision by a Supreme Court justice who rejected a habeas corpus writ his lawyers had filed seeking his release.

Despite speculations of a new Brazilian Workers Party candidate, Lula’s running mate, Fernando Haddad, reaffirmed his support for the incarcerated ex-administrator Saturday, saying, “I take an oath of allegiance to Lula. Let's go with Lula until the end.”

The Brazilian Workers Party continues to fight for Lula’s legitimacy. Congresswoman Margarida Salomao said Saturday, “We will take all legal measures to ensure that his rights, guaranteed by law and international treaties adhered to by Brazil, are respected. We will defend Lula on the streets, with the Brazilian people.”

Lula's PT party has filed an extraordinary appeal to the Federal Supreme Court this weekend seeking to overturn the TSE's ruling to secure Lula's candidacy. The party has until Sept. 17 to pick a new candidate on their ticket, but the TSE judges gave the PT 10 days to do so. 

On Aug. 17  the United Nations' Human Rights Committee called on the Brazilian state to “take all necessary measures” to allow Lula his political right to run as a presidential candidate. Per Brazil’s constitution, the committee also said Lula should not be prevented from participating in the elections until all of his legal appeals have been exhausted.

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