From Rio de Janeiro
There are judicial decisions that, as always, have a political nature. But also, depending on who the characters involved in the processes are, they become decisions that decide on the political history of the country itself.
Three years before being re-elected president of Brazil, Lula was released from prison where he was serving a sentence of 9 and a half years in prison imposed by Judge Moro, as if referring to the nine and a half fingers that Lula has.
Today we can ask ourselves, not what would happen to Lula if he had not been able to rescue his innocence, but what would happen to Brazil.
The fate of this central character in the history of Brazil is identified with the fate of Brazil. The coup that interrupted Brazilian democracy in 2016 had only the first part of it in the impeachment of Dilma Rousseff. If Lula had not been banned, in 2018 she would have won the elections against Bolsonaro.
They needed to continue the accusations that had been leveled against Lula since his first term as president. The complement to the coup was the trial, imprisonment and sentencing of Lula, which prevented him from being elected again, as indicated by the polls.
That monstrous legal media operation changed the history of Brazil. The judiciary mounted the farce and the media condemned Lula as corrupt, before the conclusion of the process. As Lula told Judge Moro to his face, while he was in prison, the judges were condemned to convict him. If they didn’t, the whole charade would fall apart.
Condemned Lula, the country went through the worst moment in its history, since the 21 years of military dictatorship. The condemnation of Lula was the condemnation of the country and its democracy: the most monstrous person that Brazilian politics has known was put in the country’s presidency. While the best president Brazil had ever had, innocent, was convicted and imprisoned in jail.
The biography of a person like Lula coincides with the history of Brazil. The very history of the country depends on what happens with Lula. Brazilians know it. For this reason, we have stayed vigil for 540 days and 540 nights in front of the Federal Police offices, knowing that it was there that decisions were made, not only about such a dear person, but also about the destiny of the country.
When Lula decided to go to the police, the vast majority of us in the San Bernardo Metalworkers’ Union opposed him doing so. We didn’t know if he would make it out of prison. Lula said that he would not go into hiding, nor would he go into exile. The future of the country would depend on the outcome of that situation.
When I visited him in his cell, Lula was sure he would come out. And sure enough, some time later, he would leave and return to the Metalworkers Union where he had started his career as a union leader and where he had left to present himself to the police.
Lula managed to convince the judiciary of his innocence, he was released from prison and three years later he was elected president of Brazil. The fate of Brazil depended on those circumstances.
Democratic forces have defeated Bolsonarismo. Lula was elected president of Brazil for the third time and is organizing his new government to lead the country again, starting on January 1, 2023.
In the event that Lula had not managed to have his innocence recognized, none of this would be possible. Brazil would not return to democracy, the country would not have the best president in its history again.