SAO PAULO, December 20, Brazil's former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who is currently leading the polls ahead of the election next year, said he would seek to build a broad range of alliances in a bid to unite a deeply polarized country.
In an interview on Friday, the 76-year-old former union leader promised to distribute wealth more fairly under a Workers Party government, and stressed the need to get rich Brazilians to pay more taxes.
He vowed to restore Brazil's international credibility, damaged by President Jair Bolsonaro. He said a South American trade deal with the European Union would be a priority, as would strengthening ties with the United States and China.
I don't want to fight, I want to join forces so we can build," he said at the Workers Party offices in downtown Sao Paulo.
It was a bit of a reversal.
He was convicted of corruption just over two years ago and was banned from running for Brazil's top job until eight months ago.
With the convictions annulled by the Supreme Court, the former leftist leader is back in the running. com world americas leftist-lula maintains dominant lead-brazilian election-poll shows - 2021 -- 12 -- 14 him notching 48%. Bolsonaro, widely criticized for his handling of the epidemic, is a distant second with 21%.
Lula ruled Brazil from 2003 to 2010 and oversaw a period of rapid economic growth - driven by a commodity boom - that helped lift millions out of poverty.
Under his government, deforestation in the Amazon rainforest fell and Brazil emerged as a global force. He left office with approval ratings of around 80%.
The memory of those years is selling well, according to polls.
Despite some parallels, today's reality is markedly different. The pandemic has killed over 600,000 people and thrown many more into poverty, and Brazil's political spectrum is more polarized.
As the world opens, inflationary pressures have become a global problem, not just a Brazilian one, and harder to fix as a result. South America's largest country has become a pariah, according to the largest country in the world.
Lula said he would reestablish Brazil as a regional and global player.
Together with the European Union, we South America could form an economic bloc, a bloc with similar political positions, with similar environmental views, to face the two giants. He said that China and the United States were the main players in the mix.
He called for a council of 100 people, taken from all sections of society, to help shape economic and social policy.
He said he would like to see the inheritance tax, which is around 4% in Brazil, brought closer to European levels of about 50%.
More money in the hands of the poor helps to grow the consumer base, creating a bigger market for companies to sell their goods. He dismissed investor concerns about a future Lula government. He said that he will give you a market.
The years that followed have soured the Workers Party legacy, although many Brazilians remember Lula's presidency fondly.
Under his successor, Dilma Rousseff, the economy slowed first, then fell off a cliff. Rousseff was impeached and lost support in Congress as the party's political star fell. Prosecutors discovered a massive corruption scheme. If there was graft in my government, we created the whole apparatus that investigated corruption, referring to investment in police intelligence, the passing of transparency laws and the autonomy of public prosecutors.
Analysts had expected a resurgence of Lula to boost support for Bolsonaro. That has not yet materialized.
The president's popularity has been hampered by the pandemic, rising poverty and inflation.
Lula has tried not to help his rival, presenting himself as a peacemaker with little of the fiery rhetoric for which he became known as a union boss.
The polarization is not between Lula and Bolsonaro, the polarization is between Bolsonaro and everyone else, he said.
Sources close to Lula say he is considering ex-rival Geraldo Alckmin as part of the strategy. Com world americas possible alliance-making-between-lula-former rival-brazil -- 2022 run -- 2021 -- 12 -- 14 as a centrist running mate.
Alckmin, a four-term former governor of business powerhouse Sao Paulo, is an unlikely partner but one brimming with market credibility.
Lula said no decision had been taken but was full of praise for the man who ran for the presidency in 2006 against him. Alckmin is a very important political figure, he said.
Lula was more upfront about his own future.