MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Hundreds cheer Lula da Silva as he walks from jail a free man
Brazil's icon Lula da Silva walked free from jail on Friday after a year and a half behind bars for corruption following a court ruling that could release thousands of convicts. The former president, wearing a black T-shirt and suit jacket, pumped his fist in the air as he exited the federal police headquarters in the southern city of Curitiba and was quickly mobbed by hundreds of supporters and journalists. Read full article
Comments
Disclaimer & comment rulesI seeeee youuuuuu “...as he ”“walks from jail”“ a free man... ”? LOL
Nov 09th, 2019 - 11:56 am - Link - Report abuse 0Not a fan of Lula?
Nov 09th, 2019 - 12:55 pm - Link - Report abuse 0The four fingered toad released from jail, all hail corruption in Latin America,the unwashed must be foaming at the mouth, free handouts for everyone and more for the toad.
Nov 09th, 2019 - 02:43 pm - Link - Report abuse 0@Demon T, I'm making fun of MercoPress's subtle attempts and subliminal propaganda.
Nov 09th, 2019 - 03:09 pm - Link - Report abuse -2@Golfcronie So you basically see the world divided in two political options, is that it?
Pat
Nov 09th, 2019 - 08:04 pm - Link - Report abuse +1The headline is pretty favourable to Lula, so what's your problem?
And how do you like Bolsonaro? I understand you have some views in common...
Golfcronie
It's 'nine-fingered toad'; you gotta get these things right.
”Lula's criminal record will prevent him from resuming his political career (but) that could change...if the Supreme Court were to decide...that Moro had been biased.”
Nov 10th, 2019 - 06:00 am - Link - Report abuse +1Of course. The current SC ruling is just one step towards undoing the wide lawfare strategy deployed in Brazil as well as in Argentina, Ecuador and other countries, to take out of the race legitimate progressive leaders receiving wide popular support.
Lula has been freed, Bolsonaro is foaming at the mouth. The tide is turning and hope is returning.
EM
Nov 10th, 2019 - 09:05 am - Link - Report abuse 0I wouldn't be too confident this is really a turn in the tide for Brazil. The law mandating jail after the first appeal did not only affect Lula but politicians of the biggest parties and many rich and powerful businessmen. Given the huge number accused, there must have been a lot of pressure on the Supreme Court to make this ruling, and now the election is settled, keeping Lula in jail is far less important to them. I was expecting them to let him out once the election was safely over, for just this reason.
golfcronie
Nov 10th, 2019 - 11:26 am - Link - Report abuse 0“all hail corruption in Latin America”
”no European or American court would have ruled to convict based on the evidence presented”
http://www.brownpoliticalreview.org/2018/03/brazils-democratic-woes-anti-elitism-reemergence-illiberalism/
All remains as it was, since they haven't even addressed the issue of the blatant corruption that imprisoned him in the first place.
Terence, this is Brazilian justice, or at least they “ the masses ” think it is. These “ left wing ” politicians do not get extremely wealthy on their Presidents pay. Anyway your article is more than likely “ biased ”. He has probably been paid to write the article in favour of “ the nine fingered toad ”.
Nov 10th, 2019 - 03:47 pm - Link - Report abuse 0golfcronie
Nov 10th, 2019 - 04:34 pm - Link - Report abuse 0“Anyway your article is more than likely...” Absolutely true, otherwise you would be able to refute it.
”Ei incumbit probatio qui dicit, non qui negat (the burden of proof lies with who declares, not who denies) it.
In addition, the usual is eight such digits not nine, but thanks for confirmation that you can't count.
DT
Nov 10th, 2019 - 07:01 pm - Link - Report abuse 0You are right that the main electoral goal of imprisoning Lula has long been consummated. Some are even saying Lula's freedom will increase polarization and help Bolsonaro to consolidate his support base.
Still, a free Lula can now begin building up a viable option for Brazilians at the time of the next election.
Also, Brazil being the Latin American powerhouse it is, Lula's liberation will no doubt impact the regional dynamics.
We can't dismiss the effect of the blow dealt to Bolsonaro and his diligent enabler Sergio Moro by the Supreme Court's decision that discards imprisonment until appeals are exhausted -- the same tool was casually implemented by the Macri administration in Argentina to send former Kirchnerist government officials to the slammer as well as some execs refusing to testify against Kirchnerism and CFK herself.
In any event, the tide has significantly changed already, and the apparently unstoppable offensive of regressive forces throughout the region thanks to new strategies such as lawfare, propaganda spred by mainstream media outlets and the colonization of social networks has now become better known.
Most of all, the SC ruling ends a blatant injustice that has kept behind bars a man who achieved the biggest transformation in Brazil's history.
EM
Nov 10th, 2019 - 09:15 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Although I don't believe this decision is the result of a change of attitudes in Brazil - and Lula has not been found innocent - it's true that him being free could lead to changes eventually. It certainly is a blow to Moro, and if I thought he was even close to impartial, I'd say to Brazil as a whole. The corruption is real enough, pervasive and long standing, and it will be a big loss for Brazil if this chance to fix it is thrown away due to partisan politics.
As for Argentina, I don't think it was as seriously affected as other countries in the region. CFK was not prevented from standing and the election seems to have mainly been decided on the economic issues. But if there is a change, I wish it would come north a bit. Your 'regressive forces' seem stronger than ever in Europe and the US.
DT
Nov 11th, 2019 - 05:57 am - Link - Report abuse 0I agree, Europe and the US are losing their precarious balance and are becoming prey to the extreme right's mermaid songs. This is a strong signal to politicians and political parties: something is amiss and they'd better find out fast what it is.
I also agree that “the corruption is real enough, pervasive and long standing.” However, the pretended fight against corruption in Brazil and Argentina was not to change structural causes to effectively end corrupt practices -- it was just a tool used as partisan politics, aiming to neutralize political opponents.
“As for Argentina, I don't think it was as seriously affected...”
Well...you don't read much about the day-to-day reality in MP. You probably haven't learned about the harassment endured by CFK during the Macrist period. Her homes were searched several times leaving a trail of destruction, her accounts frozen, objects were taken by judge Claudio Bonadio and later returned, some Patagonian properties were searched with excavators looking for buried money, and several former Kirchnerist officials -- including former VP Amado Boudou -- were jailed on weak charges, many of which are now being dropped.
All of that for Macri to become the first Argentine president since 1994 who failed to get re-elected for a second term.
Good things happen...sometimes.
“it was just a tool used as partisan politics”
Nov 11th, 2019 - 01:08 pm - Link - Report abuse 0After reading the messages from prosecutors leaked in Brazil, I believe at least some of them were genuinely trying to fight corruption. Probably so was Moro to begin with, but he decided to meddle in politics and now he's in the government himself he can't even pretend to be impartial. Remember, it isn't only PT politicians who have been accused and jailed.
Re Argentina, I read about some of that stuff, and I didn't say it wasn't affected, but it didn't see Presidents jailed or thrown out of office like in Paraguay and Brazil. Looking on the bright side, they had a good chance to investigate CFK while Macri was in power, and the fact they didn't find any convincing evidence must have persuaded a good chunk of voters that there is nothing to find. Now we'll get to see if the investigations against Macri go anywhere....
“As Lula Emerges From Prison, ... How Washington Helped Put Him There
Nov 16th, 2019 - 03:45 pm - Link - Report abuse 0At the time, the Anglo media ignored US involvement in the investigation, built Moro up as a superhero, and failed to provide any kind of critical analysis of the proceedings against Lula, despite complaints from some of the world’s leading legal scholars and human rights activists that the former president was victim of a politically motivated kangaroo court proceeding designed to remove him from the presidential elections.
There was no material evidence linking Lula to any crime. His conviction was based on coerced plea bargain testimony by a single convicted criminal.
Seventy-three witnesses, including executives from the OAS company, testified that neither Lula nor anyone from his family had ever owned or lived in the apartment. Furthermore, a judge in Brasilia determined in January 2018, as part of a different case, that the vacant apartment still belonged to OAS. The prosecutors were unable to prove that the renovations had ever actually taken place. Although Sérgio Moro had barred the press from visiting the site, the MTST housing movement broke in and filmed a video which proved that, contrary to prosecutors claims, the strikingly cheap-looking apartment had never had any of the renovations listed by the prosecutors, including installation of a private elevator and luxury appliances. The Lava Jato task force prosecutors and Judge Moro were unable to prove that they had any legal jurisdiction over a case involving an alleged crime in a different state,”
https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/11/15/lula-emerges-prison-us-media-ignore-how-washington-helped-put-him-there
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