Brazil: Lula Stands As Opposition To Bolsonaro, Right Wants Him Back In Jail

With only two days of freedom, Lula has gathered all the forces of the progressive line.

10 November 2019

Former Brazilian President and leader of the Workers’ Party (PT) Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is preparing to lead the opposition to far-right President Jair Bolsonaro’s government, while the right is already trying to articulate a constitutional amendment that could put him back in jail.

Lula regained his freedom last Friday and his return to politics has already been an impulse for a lethargic opposition since the arrival to power of the far-right Bolsonaro.

The former president spent 580 days in prison, but with only two days in the street, Lula has gathered all the forces of the progressive line, which were represented in a great act of “welcome” organized this Saturday by the PT, which under the figure of its historic leader now raises the conformation of a great opposition front.

Sources from the PT consulted by Efe said that the first objective that Lula has set to regain power for the forces of the left is the municipal elections next October.

These elections will also be a test for Bolsonaro, whose popularity has plummeted since he assumed power and is now around 30 percent, according to polls.

Lula decided to spend this first Sunday as a free man with his family but will devote next week to preparing a series of trips around the country that, according to PT sources, will begin in the northeast region, made up of nine states with center-left spectrum governors.

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The first big event in that matter will be on Nov. 17 in the city of Recife, capital of the state of Pernambuco, where Lula was born 74 years ago and whose governor is Paulo Camara, an emerging figure of the Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB), who would bow to an opposition front.

Published at https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/lula-prepares-opposition-to-bolsonaro-right-wants-him-back-in-jail-20191110-0007.html