Supporters of former Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Saturday rallied in their hundreds outside his Sao Paulo house a day after his dramatic detention in a corruption probe.
The show of resolve was the latest sign a mounting political crisis over an investigation into alleged embezzlement and bribery at the state oil giant Petrobras was spilling onto the streets.
“We are here out of solidarity,” said one man in the crowd, Jesualdo Freitas, 57. He described anger at Lula’s brief detention on Friday as having galvanized the left.
Photo: AP
“It strengthens the Workers’ Party and the movement to defend president Lula,” Freitas said.
The charismatic leftist icon emerged mid-morning to greet the about 500 people. Shortly afterward, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, Lula’s successor and protege in the ruling Workers’ Party, arrived for a private visit.
Until now, a massive anti-corruption scandal has unfolded mostly in the civilized surroundings of courtrooms and lawyers’ offices.
However, during Friday’s drama, opponents and supporters of Lula and Rousseff scuffled in Sao Paulo. Late in the day, opponents organized on social media to lean out of windows in Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and the capital, Brasilia, shouting and banging pots in celebration.
The opposition blames Lula for the gargantuan corruption network uncovered at Petrobras, which was systematically plundered during much of his presidency, with bribes funneling into the pockets of high-ranking politicians, including from the Workers’ Party.
The opposition also blames Rousseff for a brutal recession in a nation that, just a few years ago, was the darling of emerging markets, even if those troubles are partly due to plunging commodities prices.
The sight of armed police at Lula’s home has given opponents a boost as they seek to reignite a stalled impeachment drive against Rousseff and prepare for nationwide demonstrations on Sunday.
“The opposition will move with greater strength, with new impetus to try and force out Rousseff,” said Andre Cesar, a Sao Paulo-based political analyst.
Lula, still a powerful speaker at the age of 70, is also spoiling for a fight.
“If they want to defeat me, they will have to face me in the streets of this country,” the fiery trade union veteran told a crowd of supporters hours after being released from police questioning.
Dismissing corruption allegations as lies and calling the police operation a “show,” Lula gave a speech in which he alternately wept, made the crowd laugh and vowed no mercy.
“From [today], I am ready to travel throughout the country. If someone thinks they can shut me up with persecution and accusations, well, I have survived hunger, and those who have survived hunger do not give in,” he said.
After a seemingly endless deluge of bad news for Rousseff and her government, Lula sought to steady nerves and look forward to presidential elections in 2018 when he could attempt to return to power.
“If they need someone to animate our troops, then I am the animator,” he said.
Risk consultancy Eurasia Group called Friday’s events “a tipping point” that would energize both the government’s leftist power base and the pro-impeachment forces.
“In the very near term, we expect a highly polarized environment to ensue,” Eurasia Group said.
With figures last week showing the economy shrank a whopping 3.8 percent last year — fueling ever-rising unemployment and inflation — along with the taint of the Petrobras scandal, Rousseff is already fighting for her political life. Lula’s deepening problems make her position more fragile still.
Although Rousseff has not been implicated directly in the Petrobras scandal, she was chairman of the company during much of the period in question and her fate remains tied to that of her mentor.
Prosecutors have not charged Lula, but say they suspect he took bribes from contractors embezzling Petrobras in the form of a luxury apartment, speaking fees and other “favors.”
To the opposition, Lula’s guilt is clear. At demonstrations, they often parade a blow-up doll of the former president dressed in prison garb, prompting fist fights with infuriated Workers’ Party loyalists.
However, Rousseff accused prosecutors of overreach with their decision to take a former president into custody when he has previously willingly cooperated with investigators.
On Saturday, the judge leading the Petrobras probe, Sergio Moro, appeared to try calming the furor, saying that the operation aimed “solely to clarify the truth and did not mean anticipation of the ex-president’s guilt.”
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