THE verdict was a bombshell but not a surprise. On January 24th, with police helicopters in the sky over Porto Alegre, a city in Brazil’s south, and snipers on rooftops, a three-judge panel at a federal court unanimously upheld the conviction of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, a former president, on charges of corruption and money-laundering. Awaiting the decision, thousands of his supporters camped less than a mile away. They were both angry and defiant. “It’s political persecution,” insisted Everaldo de Souza, a construction worker from the southern state of Santa Catarina.
The court’s decision has big implications for Brazil’s presidential election, to be held in October. Lula is the most popular potential candidate by far. A recent poll suggested that 36% of voters would back him, double the share who support his nearest rival, Jair Bolsonaro, a right-wing extremist. The confirmation of Lula’s guilty verdict will not deter him from running. Indeed, he was expected to announce his...Continue reading
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