MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Lula: Hunger top priority of his third government

Lula also called for the resumption of “dialogue with the Judiciary and Legislative Branch.”

Former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula Da Silva (2003-2010), who for elected Sunday for a third term in office starting Jan 1, 2023, said in his victory speech that he would run the country for all Brazilians, not just those who voted for him.

The leftwing unionist leader, who became the first politician in Brazil ever to be elected three times, insisted that the most urgent issue to solve was hunger. Lula had 50.9 % of the votes against Jair Bolsonaro's 49.1 %.

From the Intercontinental Hotel in Sao Paulo, at around 9 pm Sunday, Lula thanked his team for their work and God for allowing him to reach this moment after all he has lived through. “This election has only one great winner: the Brazilian people. This is not a victory for me or for the PT, it is a social movement that has been formed over the politicians so that democracy could win. The majority said they want more democracy and not less, more social inclusion and not less, more respect and understanding, and not less; they are asking for more freedom, fraternity, and equality in our country.”

“People have shown that they want to choose who will govern their lives, they want more right to protest because of hunger, because their salary is insufficient, because they do not have access to education, they see that there is no future perspective, they want to live well, eat well, a salary above inflation, health, education, religious freedom, books instead of weapons, to have access to all cultural goods, they want to have hope again. This is how I understand democracy, I understand it as something we can build in our lives. It was that democracy that the Brazilian people have built today, and this is the democracy that we are going to try to rebuild,” Lula went on.

“The wheel of the economy is going to turn again, with salaries, with work, with support for small producers who today produce 70% of the food that reaches our tables. It is necessary to strengthen policies against violence against women, and that they earn the same salary as men in the exercise of the same function. We must relentlessly confront racism and discrimination so that whites, blacks, and indigenous people have the same rights and opportunities; only then will we be able to build a Brazil of all, whose priority is the people who need it most,” Lula pointed out.

“On January 1st I will govern for the 215 million Brazilians and not only for those who voted for me. For me, we are one country, one people, and one great nation. I am not interested in living in a family where discord reigns, we must mend the ties broken by hatred, a country divided in a state of war. Today it needs peace, it does not want to fight anymore, it is tired of seeing in the other the enemy and being feared, it is time to put down the weapons that we should never have raised; weapons kill and we choose life,” Lula went on.

“The challenge is immense: to rebuild this country in all its aspects, especially the care of the neediest. It is necessary to recover the soul of the country, respect for diversity, love for others, bring the joy of being Brazilians and the pride of our flag, which belongs to no one but the Brazilian people,” he insisted.

“Our most urgent commitment is to end hunger again, we cannot accept that millions of women and men have nothing to eat, we are the third largest food producer in the world, the first in animal protein. If we have an immense amount of land and we are able to export to the whole world, we have to guarantee that all Brazilians can have breakfast, lunch, and dinner,” he stressed.

“We cannot afford that more families must continue to live on the streets, and that is why we are going to resume the My House, My Life program, the inclusion programs that lifted 36 million Brazilians out of poverty. It is not possible to live with this concrete wall that separates Brazil into unequal parts that do not know each other, they have to meet again,” he underlined.

Lula also called for the resumption of “dialogue with the Judiciary and Legislative Branch.”

Regarding deforestation in the Amazon Basin, Lula announced that he will take up the issue of illegal activities in that region, where he will promote sustainable development. “Brazil and the planet need a living Amazon. A standing tree is worth more than deforestation, a clean river is worth more than all the gold extracted with mercury-contaminated water,” he said.

“We will monitor the surveillance of the Amazon and combat any illegal activity. At the same time, we will promote the sustainable development of the communities that live there and we will prove once again that it is possible to generate wealth without destroying the environment. We are open to international cooperation to preserve the Amazon, but always under Brazilian leadership, without renouncing our sovereignty,” Lula argued.