Ex-President of Brazil Cleared of Charges
Former Brazilian President Lula da Silva speaks at a party conference (flickr).
Brazil’s Supreme Court dropped all charges against former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on March 8. In 2018, he was barred from being on the presidential ballot, despite being a frontrunner in the polls.
Lula served as President of Brazil from 2003 to 2010 and was one of the founding members of Brazil’s Workers’ Party (PT). During this time, Brazil experienced rapid economic growth and saw a sharp reduction in poverty levels due to increased funding for social programs. Under his presidency, Brazil became the world’s eighth-largest economy.
Despite this success, his administration was plagued by scandals and corruption charges. In his first term alone, Lula was charged with a vote-buying scandal by the Brazilian Attorney General. Around 40 politicians and government officials were tried, but only 25 were convicted. Although many maintained that Lula was unaware of the scandal, Lula was accused of influence-peddling in the Lava Jato (Car Wash) Scandal after his presidency.
This corruption scandal alleged that the members of state-run oil company Petrobras had accepted bribes in return for drafting contracts with inflated prices. The money generated from these contracts was then funneled back to politicians who had appointed the Petrobras directors. Lula was sentenced to 12 years in prison in 2017, but he vowed to continue his campaign.
Lula was released from prison in November 2019 after 580 days, and since then has been incredibly vocal about his opposition to current Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. Accusations against Lula were retired due to a technicality regarding the location of his trial, but Lula’s lawyers have claimed the annulment of his conviction as a sign of his innocence. More recently, Lula stated that Bolsonaro’s response to the pandemic has been “moronic.”
Lula is an incredibly divisive figure in Latin American politics due to his strong support from the left-wing and harsh critics who cite his corruption charges as the epitome of what is wrong with politicians. This can very well set the stage for a 2022 presidential election where Lula contests Bolsonaro’s seat. Bolsonaro quickly responded after Lula’s charges were dropped, saying, “I believe that the Brazilian people don’t even want to have a candidate like this in 2022, much less think of possibly electing him.”
Not all polls agree on who has more public support, but experts claim that this coming election could be financially disastrous. Lula’s victory could cause significant financial damage to investors. Bolsonaro, on the other hand, might increase economic populist policies and bring the country even deeper into financial instability.