Lula: “I will not allow Brazil to be governed by a fascist again”

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said on Tuesday that he is willing to run for re-election in the next elections in Brazil to prevent “a fascist” from returning to power, alluding to former president Jair Bolsonaro. “I am not going to allow this country to be governed by a fascist again, I am not going to allow it to be governed by a denier again,” Lula said in an interview with the CBN news station.

The veteran former union member, 78, assumed his third four-year term in January 2023, after obtaining a narrow victory against the far-right Bolsonaro (2019-2022). When asked about the difficulty that his age may pose for a future re-election in October 2026, when he will be about to turn 81, he responded that he will be “at the peak of life.”

“If it were necessary to be a candidate to prevent the troglodytes who ruled this country from governing again, you can be sure that 80 years will become 40 and I will be able to be a candidate,” he stated. “But it is not the first hypothesis,” he added. “There are many good people for candidates.”

Lula governed the South American giant for two consecutive terms from 2003 to 2010. Bolsonaro was disqualified by the Superior Electoral Court from holding elected office until 2030 for misinforming about the voting system. However, he remains very active in politics at the head of the Liberal Party, with wide representation in the lower house and the Senate.

The former president takes part in events throughout the country to support candidates for the municipal elections next October, in which he usually compares his disqualification with that of opponents in Venezuela or Nicaragua. In addition, he is the target of several investigations for the alleged falsification of Covid-19 vaccine certificates and for alleged participation in an attempted coup d’état to prevent Lula from assuming office, among others. Source: AFP.

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