THE TWO MAIN CANDIDATES PT’s Leftist candidate Fernando Haddad

14 September 2018

 Brazil: Who is Fernando Haddad, New PT Presidential Candidate?

Faced with an intractable judicial system that has defied Brazil's constitution and a UN Human Rights Committee ruling, former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the lead choice in the presidential election, has, from a prison cell in Curitiba, transferred his candidacy to his vice-presidential running mate, Fernando Haddad.

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16 September 2018

 Brazil: Who Is Manuela D'Avila, PT-Communist Party VP Candidate?

Brazil's Workers Party (PT) has learned, the hard way, the lesson of not choosing an adequate vice president after Michel Temer usurped the presidency of Dilma Rousseff through an unconstitutional parliamentary coup.

This time the PT, confirming its alliance with the Communist Party of Brazil (PCdoB)

 

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Far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro:

29 September 2018

Outrageous Quotes That Prove Jair Bolsonaro is a Threat to Brazil's Democracy

Bolsonaro, who is leading Brazil's presidential polls, has a long history of embracing torture and making violent comments against vulnerable groups.

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23 September 2018

 Who Is Hamilton Mourao, VP Running-Mate of Jair Bolsonaro

With Brazil's presidential election just over two weeks away, candidates are firing up their campaigns to make their points and win votes.

 

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THE ABC’S OF BRAZIL’S ELECTION

27 October 2018

Bannon ‘King of Failed Projects’ Gives Bolsonaro His Blessing

Bannon’s endorsement comes two days before the Brazilian election and could signal more political work from the international far-right group The Movement.

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27 October 2018

Is Brazil's Jair Bolsonaro A Fascist?

"The extreme right, wherever it comes from, is extremely dangerous for democratic processes and even worse for revolutionary democratic processes."

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HOW DID WE GET HERE: FROM GOVERNMENT COUP TO DE FACTO GOVERNMENT Warrantless accusations

At the start of Dilma Rousseff’s term, she was investigated in the Lava Jato (Operation Car Wash) case for supposed bribes to the state oil company Petrobras. Investigators found no proof that the president was involved in the corruption scheme.

 

But the coup continued apace. Opposition forces found another angle, this time accusing Rousseff of fixing the balances on public accounts in her first term (2010-2014) in order to cover up a budget deficit. This became known as the “financial cycle” case.

 

 

Rousseff presented a 900-page document to the Union Court of Auditors in July 2015. It showed no violation of the Fiscal Responsibility Law. In October, however, the body deems there to be irregularities and opened a path to impeachment.

 

The fulfillment of the coup

Amid massive demonstrations against the coup, on May 12 the Brazilian Senate voted to move forward with impeachment proceedings, and Rousseff was suspended from her post for a maximum of 180 days. Vice President Michel Temer assumed responsibilities in the interim.

 

In June, a report produced by experts in the Brazilian Senate testified that there was no proof that Rousseff participated in any way in the financial scheme. On Aug. 26, six witnesses for the defense, including ex-officials and academics showed that the president did not break any laws.

 

At point, the overthrow was complete. On Aug. 31, 61 senators voted to support the measure to remove Dilma. This started Brazil’s downward spiral into chaos — a democratic crisis and the dawn of the de facto government of Michel Temer and his neoliberal policies.

Dilma Rousseff - Brazil's 1st Woman President

Although she was impeached this time last year, she remains a figure that stimulates revolutionary processes around the country. The current president, imposed by the senate, on the other hand, is on the receiving end of increased pressure to resign.

Evangelical Brazilians Say Their Prayers Led to the Coup

Who ousted Dilma Rousseff? God, apparently.

MICHEL TEMER’S BRAZIL

The coup that overthrew Dilma Rousseff brought Michel Temer to power. His de facto government soon became synonymous with poverty, unemployment, and the destruction of workers’ rights.

Lula: Brazil Govt Undoing Social Progress

Former Brazilian President Luis Inacio "Lula" da Silva has criticized President Michel Temer's plans to sell Eletrobras, the country's largest, publicly-controlled power company.

Brazil’s Temer Drops Pension Reform After Social Movement Pressure

Protests all around Brazil have stopped the unpopular pension system reform promoted by the unelected President Michel Temer.

Brazil’S Rule Of Violence

A wave of right-wing violence is sweeping through Brazil as the perpetrators have been carrying out their crimes with absolute impunity.

LULA AND DILMA’S ACHIEVEMENTS

Who Is Lula Da Silva?

Who is #Lula da Silva and why do the powerful in Brazil want to stop him from running in the presidential elections of 2018?

- Enrollment numbers at public universities doubled

 

- 214 technical schools were created and 140 were restructured

 

- 126 university campuses and 14 public universities were built

 

- The education budget increased from 20 billion reales (US$4.97 billion) to 100 billion reales (US$24.85 billion) by the end of his first term.

 

Lula and the democratization of education

Brazil Stands Up For Lula

Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio 'Lula' da Silva's trial has divided the country since his plea for habeas corpus was denied by the Supreme Court.

 

Repercussions are being felt around the world, with many claiming that his only crime has been "lifting over 30 million people out of poverty." #LulaLivre #LulaValeALuta

Dilma and the continuation of social protection

- More than 5.4 million jobs were created between Jan. 2011 and May 2014 (20.8 million if Lula’s achievements are included)

 

- The minimum wage was increased to 724 BR (US$ 266.40), giving workers the highest purchasing power since 1979.

 

- Reduction of national debt

 

- Continuation of social programs like Bolsa Familia (Family Allowance) which lifted more than 36 million Brazilians out of poverty by guaranteeing access to basic rights like education and health.

 

- Housing plan Mi Casa, Mi Vida (My Home, My Life). 1 million houses were built in the first phase and 2.75 million in the second phase. The program created more than 80,000 new businesses and generated thousands of jobs.

 

LAWFARE AGAINST LULA

Lula's Ban and Lawfare

How 'lawfare' is being used to undemocratically block left wing leaders such as Lula in Brazil.

Background

The investigation into corruption at the state-run company Petrobras, known as Lava Jato (Operation Car Wash) started in 2014.

 

With the arrest of Alberto Youssef, the main bribe operator within Petrobras, a series of charges were presented against politicians, including leaders of the Workers’ Party (PT).

The accusation

Lula was implicated in the case in November 2015, and by May 2016 the Sao Paulo Prosecutor’s Office sued him for alleged passive corruption and money laundering.

 

According to the prosecutors, the Brazilian ex-president had received 2.7 million BR (US$ 780,000) from OAS, a company implicated in the corruption scheme. Part of that payment, they claimed, was a triple-decker apartment in the city of Guaruja, on the coast of the state of Sao Paulo in the southeast of Brazil.

The Evidence

The Brazilian Prosecutor's Office based it’s allegations on a document found at the home of the ex-president. The document showed OAS as the owner of the apartment as well as the visits of Lula and his wife Marisa Leticia during which some alterations to the property were made.

The Defense

There is no proof that the apartment was owned by the leader of the PT. Lula’s defense attorneys argued that Lula never benefited in any unseemly way and that the apartment had no relation to Petrobras.

 

They also explained that Lula was interested in buying the apartment but he discontinued the purchase. They highlight that in order to have a sentence on corruption charges it is necessary to show an act in response to the alleged bribe received.

The Sentence

On July 22, 2017 Lula was sentenced in his first instance by federal judge Sergio Moro, responsible for the case. The sentence against the leader of the PT was nine and half years in prison for the crimes of corruption and money laundering.

 

Despite all the legal appeals presented by the defense, the former president was sentenced in his second instance on Jan. 24, 2018 by three judges of the Federal Regional Court of the Fourth Region, who unanimously decided to increase the prison sentence to 12 years and a month of prison time.

Incarceration

Judge Sergio Moro ordered Lula’s detention on April 5, 2018, giving him until 5 p.m. to turn himself in voluntarily the next day at the federal prison in Sao Paulo.

 

Before he complied with the detention order, the Workers’ Party leader met with his followers at the headquarters of the Metal Workers Union in the town of San Bernardo de Campo in Sao Paulo.

 

On April 7, Lula surrendered himself to police at their headquarters in Sao Paulo. He was later transferred to Curitiba, in Parana, where he remains incarcerated.

Denying his candidacy

Referring to the “Clean Record Act,” the Supreme Electoral Court disallowed the PT leader from running as a candidate in the Oct. 7, 2018 presidential elections, and gave Sept. 11 as a deadline for the party to present a substitute candidate.

 

This decision was made despite the determination of the United Nations that the Brazilian state should allow Lula to exercise his political rights until all his appeals within the justice system have been exhausted, and a final judgement handed down.

HADDAD, LULA’S REPRESENTATIVE

Brazil's Workers Party Announces Presidential Candidate

The Workers Party in Brazil has chosen Lula-approved Fernando Haddad as its presidential candidate.

Why did PT choose Haddad?

“Giving millions of poor, Black and Indigenous people places in universities, and creating more than 400 public technical schools are changes that have significant value — Haddad was responsible for that,” explained a political analyst and journalist Beto Almeida, regarding Lula’s replacement.

 

In addition, Haddad was mayor of Sao Paulo, the biggest city in Brazil, and a region central to the Workers’ Party strategy. “He has a quality as a thinker, an economist, and is such a young man with experience in social transformation and public policy,” emphasized Almeida.

What does Haddad think about....?

Corruption. Haddad is betting on the strengthening of state institutions to battle corruption and promote the continuity of Workers’ Party policies against corruption.

 

Economy.“One of Lula’s biggest tax reforms was to include the poor in the budget,” Haddad said during the Sep. 20 presidential debate. He is in favor of equitable redistribution of tax income as a foundation for the market economy.

 

Work. Work and education are the fundamental pillars of his plan for governing. To generate more jobs, he would advocate for tax banking, and fiscal reforms in order to generate more jobs with new projects.

 

Education. He would invest in initial and ongoing teacher training. “Each federal school would have to adopt an underperforming state school to push for a higher level,” was one of the ideas he explained.

 

Human rights. The ex-mayor of Sao Paulo proposed laws to combat discrimination on the basis of gender, race, and sexual orientation. He would bring back measures that were implemented by the PT government like protections for women, rural communities, and others.

 

Foreign policy. He would regain the unity between Latin American countries as a single political, economic, and cultural bloc through bodies such as the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), and through the consolidation of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC)