“Bolsonaro is Giving Permission to Sell Brazil,” Says Lula

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Imprisoned since April 7th, 2018, after being convicted of corruption, former President Lula gave an interview to Portugal’s TV channel, RTP, where he analyzed the current government of Jair Bolsonaro.

“You don’t have a citizen who was elected to govern the country and think about improving Brazil, improving conditions for the Brazilian people. You have a citizen who is a destroyer, a destroyer of democracy in this country,” Lula said of Brazil’s current president.

The former president, who is currently in prison at the Federal Police headquarters in Curitiba, capital of Paraná, told RTP that Bolsonaro does not like people’s freedom, “so he needs to have the militias”. He also accused the current president of not knowing how to manage Brazil’s assets, “that’s why he asks the Finance Minister to sell everything, they want to privatize everything“.

“I don’t think he’s governing Brazil, he’s actually giving permission to sell this country,” Lula said, referring to privatizations already made by the current government involving companies linked to Petrobras and the plans for Correios, Eletrobras, and others.

The interview will air on the Portuguese state channel next Tuesday, October 22nd.

Lula is serving a sentence of eight years and ten months in prison after being convicted in the case of the triplex in Guarujá, which is part of the Lava Jato operation. However, the political leader claims his innocence and expects the Supreme Court to reassess the case, including the conduct of former judge Sérgio Moro, who led the case.