Brazil: Workers' Party Asserts 'Lula's Presidential Candidacy'

Brazil's Workers' Party, or PT, reaffirmed Tuesday that former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio 'Lula' da Silva, despite complying with an arrest warrant issued by judge Sergio Moro, is their presidential candidate for October's general elections. The announcement was made as PT leaders temporarily relocated to Curitiba where Lula is being detained at the federal police headquarters, according to local outlet La Vanguardia.

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“We decided to reaffirm Lula's presidential candidacy. He is our candidate under any circumstance,” said Gleissi Hoffman, president of the PT, which is the largest left-wing in Latin America.

“We understand that Lula's freedom constitutes his candidacy to become president of Brazil's president, hence, we're going to fight hard for his candidacy.” Hoffman went on to say that Lula's defense lawyers will continue their arduous work to ensure his release from prison as soon as possible.

“We decided to relocate (the PT leadership) to Curitiba because we're absolutely certain that Lula is a political prisoner.”

Lula was sentenced to 12 years and one month in prison on corruption charges by Brazil's Fourth Regional Federal Court. The Supreme Court of Justice rejected two habeas corpus appeals submitted by his defense team. Legal experts and observers attribute his case to a salacious media campaign coupled with “lawfare,” where political foes use loopholes in the judicial system to their advantage, neutralizing their opponents.

After delivering a rousing, motivational speech on the grounds of the ABC Steelworkers Union headquarters in Sao Bernardo do Campo, Sao Paulo Saturday, Lula was hoisted in the air by hordes of supporters, seemingly floating from the stage, amid the crowd and back into the building. Shortly after, he surrendered to federal police, adhering to an arrest warrant issued by Moro.

He was flown from Sao Paulo and taken to prison in the city of Curitiba. Audio received by the helicopter that transported Lula to the federal police station recorded someone saying “throw that trash out of the window,” referring to the former head of state. Several social movements and other supporters of Lula have set up camp in front of the federal police headquarters where he is detained.

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Having left office with a record approval rating of 83 percent in 2011, according to Datafolha, Lula, despite his legal woes and imprisonment, has topped every electoral poll conducted this year by Vox Populi, Datafolha, Data Poder 360, Instituto Parana, the National Confederation of Transportation/MDA and Ipsos.

Lula's two terms in office were marked by a slew of social programs, lifting millions of Brazilians out of poverty and removing the country from the United Nations World Hunger Map. One of his most ambitious and successful plans was Family Allowance (Bolsa Familia). Launched in 2003, it provided stipends to families living below the poverty line. In turn, those families must prove that their children are attending school and have been vaccinated.

He has told his judicial and media critics that “If they don't want me to be a (presidential) candidate (this year), go to the polls and vote against me. Don't create artifices and tricks to prevent my candidacy.”