Lula da Silva, former President of Brazil, was awarded an honorary citizen of the City of Paris

The former president of Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was decorated as an honorary citizen of the City of Paris on a decision taken by the Paris Council on October 3, 2019.

Monday evening the Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, gave the decoration of “citizen of honor of the city of Paris” to the former Brazilian president Lula, for his commitment in the reduction of “social and economic inequalities” in his country .

This commitment “has enabled nearly 30 million Brazilians to get out of extreme poverty and access essential rights and services”, underlines the city hall of Paris in a press release, after the favorable vote of the Council of Paris .

The former president of the left has repeatedly claimed to be the victim of a political plot to prevent him from returning to power, while he was the big favorite of the presidential election of October 2018 which saw the victory of the far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro.

As of November 8, 2019, ex-president Lula da Silva has been released on bail – due to new legislation allowing him to be free until all remedies are exhausted – but he has never been exonerated.

Lula himself has always proclaimed his innocence and his supporters have denounced “judicial persecution”. Combative, he thus castigated the Brazilian justice system for trying to “criminalize the left” and attacked Sergio Moro, the judge who condemned him before being appointed Minister of Justice in the current government.

Figure of the left, ex-president Lula da Silva, delivered a speech where he spoke about the current problems concerning social and economic life in Brazil, but also on the Amazonian population facing the current system, in the destruction of the tribes Amazonian.
Former President of Brazil Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva at was accompanied by Dilma Rousseff, former President of Brazil and Fernando Haddad, former Minister of Education and ex-mayor of São Paulo, candidate of the Workers’ Party in the elections presidential elections of 2018.

In 2016, the Brazilian Parliament launched a dismissal procedure of Dilma Rousseff, President of Brazil, this impeachment procedure results from practices aimed at concealing the size of the Brazilian public deficits in a context of significant economic crisis. She intervenes in the context of the Petrobras scandal and following major demonstrations demanding the resignation of the president. Brazil is experiencing one of the most serious economic crises in its history, with a recession and a rising unemployment rate. She chaired the board of directors of Petrobras between 2003 and 2010, and was also cited in a bribe and bribery scandal, which reopens a judicial inquiry into her 2014 presidential campaign.

At the end of this controversial removal procedure, on August 31, 2016, Dilma Rousseff, was removed by a vote of the Senate.

Fernando Haddad was Minister of Education from 2005 to 2012, under the chairmanship of Lula and then Dilma Roussef. It implemented a policy of democratization of universities, access to which was previously largely reserved for the wealthy classes. The massive allocation of scholarships to students has enabled children of the lower middle classes and, to a lesser extent, those of the very poor, to enter higher education.

Its “education development plan” is also reflected in a significant increase in the budget, the establishment of a national minimum wage for teachers and the expansion of pre-school education making school compulsory from four years .
In 2012, supported by the Workers’ Party, he became mayor of São Paulo. During his tenure, he managed to reduce the city’s debt.
In September 2018, he was nominated candidate by the Workers’ Party, the Higher Electoral Court having rejected Lula’s candidacy. The candidate of the left, Fernando Haddad, was defeated by his opponent Jair Bolsonaro.

The three left-wing political figures were greeted by the Brazilian diapora to applause upon entering the reception hall where former President Lula was decorated as an honorary citizen of the City during his visit to Paris.

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Gabriel MIHAI

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