MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Lula da Silva praises protests in Brazil as something 'healthy' for democracy

The former president says his presidential candidate is Dilma and questions that economics is above politics

Former president Lula da Silva described the street protests that have shaken Brazil as something 'good and healthy' and said demands reveal that the Brazilian people have discovered that it is possible to aspire for more, although when as a union leader he marched “I didn't destroy public or private property”.

“They are important and we value that, they are good and healthy because hungry people are not willing to battle. When forty million people have joined the middle class, when in 2007, 48 million could afford flying and now the number is 103 million, a country that rolled out 1.5 million cars and now the number is 3.8 million, and in a country that in 2016 is poised to become the fifth world economy, it has a society that has discovered it wants more, it is only natural”, said the former president and political mentor of his successor, Dilma Rousseff in an interview with Madrid's El Pais.

Lula da Silva said that “we must promote democratic participation and not allow young generations to reject politics because when that happens what comes next is fascism”. He strongly criticized the “technical approach and bureaucracy” with which the European crisis is being addressed.

“In the last three decades the world has been ruled by a bureaucratic and technical logic distanced from politics. The economy set the course of governments and not the other way round, which I believe is a great mistake. If you are a great politician you can come up with a great team of technocrats, but if you are a good technocrat maybe you are not capable of making good political decisions: why? because universities don't make mayors, governors or presidents. That experience is acquired by mixing and understanding people, with the political groups, with your capacity to convince and live together in democracy with all the possible political shades”, argued Lula da Silva.

He went further and mentioned the example of President Sebastian Piñera in Chile, “a great entrepreneur who is discovering that government, addressing different interests is far more difficult that making decisions in a corporation. And in the case of Europe, and its impact on the world, I believe there is a clear lack of political decision, not economic decisions”.

Finally on his political future and possible presidential aspirations Lula da Silva said he already had his candidate and was working for a new generation of leaders.

”I have my candidate and she is (current president) Dilma. And I think it's time for a new generation of leaders, let us not forget why the Workers Party was created and for what we were formed and fought. I am dedicated to combat poverty and help development“.

”We have the rich experience of Brazil that can be applied to Africa. It's easy and does not cost that much. If you give people access to resources they become consumers, industry gets moving, commerce sales increase, jobs are created, higher salaries and you have a virtuous circle with production, consumption, education, culture...”