[rad-green] Brazilian Leftist Leader Lula Freed From Prison

*https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/11/08/extraordinary-day-brazilian-leftist-leader-lula-freed-prison
<https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/11/08/extraordinary-day-brazilian-leftist-leader-lula-freed-prison>Common
Dreams          November 8, 2019*





*'An Extraordinary Day': Brazilian Leftist Leader Lula Freed From Prison"An
extraordinary day in Brazil—for the world, given Lula's stature."by Eoin
Higgins, staff writer*

[image: A supporter of the former Brazilian president Luis Inacio Lula da
Silva holds a flag during a national strike protest called by unions and
students against the Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro's pension reform in
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on June 14, 2019.]

*A supporter of the former Brazilian president Luis Inacio Lula da Silva
holds a flag during a national strike protest called by unions and students
against the Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro's pension reform in Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil, on June 14, 2019. (Photo: Mauro Pimentel/AFP/Getty Images)*

Former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, known as Lula, was
freed from prison Friday after a year-and-a-half behind bars due to a
politically motivated prosecution from the country's right-wing government.

A large crowd, most decked in Workers' Party red, gathered to welcome Lula
back to freedom.

"You don't know how much you represent me," the former Brazilian president
told the throng of supporters.

"An extraordinary day in Brazil," *The Intercept*'s Glenn Greenwald
tweeted, "for the world, given Lula's stature."

"It's an emotional day," Greenwald added
<https://twitter.com/ggreenwald/status/1192865810697601026>.

"Wow!" Greenwald's *Intercept* colleague, writer Naomi Klein,
replied. "This is big."

For his part, Lula tweeted a video of himself working out, saying "Lula
Livre."

Lula was imprisoned in April 2018 after a series of events that *The
Associated Press *described
<https://apnews.com/a38c320a795f4e30ab73f14049a1e6fe> as part of a plot by
Brazil's right-wing to seize power:

Da Silva's hand-picked successor, Dilma Rousseff, was impeached and removed
from office in 2016. Then Da Silva was jailed in April 2018 after a group
of judges upheld his conviction for corruption and money laundering. That
left his leftist Workers' Party rudderless, and it was further demoralized
when routed in the 2018 general elections.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who is running for the 2020 Democratic
nomination for president, called for Lula's release from prison in June and
remains the only 2020 presidential candidate to do so. Sanders tweeted
Friday that he was "delighted" Lula was free," calling the Brazilian
leader's imprisonment "something that never should have happened in the
first place."

In his remarks to the crowd, Lula repeatedly returned to a message of
unity.

"They did not imprison a man," said Lula. "They wanted to kill an idea. And
ideas are not killed."

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