Year two of Lula's imprisonment. Anniversary of shame.

By Gilvandro Filho, for the Journalists for Democracy - The second year of a political imprisonment that shames the country, undermines democracy, and has negative repercussions across the globe begins. It's sad to say, but, except for Latin America, now dominated by a horde of far-right leaders completely manipulated by the United States, nobody on the other continents understands what is happening in Brazil.

No one understands why a political leader – and not just any leader – who, during his eight years at the helm of the country, promoted the largest set of actions aimed at the poorest, is imprisoned without a single convincing piece of evidence being presented against him. Democracy, of course, is not this.

Lula's imprisonment is one of those bizarre episodes that irreparably tarnish a country's image and plunge the biographies of his tormentors into the most nauseating pit. Having risen to power thanks to the unjust punishment imposed on the former president, their stories are marked by dishonor and pettiness.

Last July 7th marked one year since Lula was imprisoned in the Federal Police jail in Curitiba, the city that hosts all the legal machinations. It is from there that he, who personified all sorts of arbitrariness, begins with the suppression of a legitimate electoral aspiration that, if not thwarted, would have changed the course of events. Without the maneuver that occurred, Lula would very likely be the President of the Republic today, for the third time.

The figure on screen is a first-instance judge whose family has close ties to conservative parties, particularly the PSDB. By convicting Lula for "undetermined reasons," Judge Sérgio Moro provided the legal basis for the former president's arrest warrant at a time when he was leading all the polls, with many points ahead of his competitors. Moro was both the cause and consequence of Lula's removal from the electoral race. With Lula out of the race, the second-place candidate began to dominate, complete with a suspicious attack and a plethora of fake news.

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Answering the most basic question, it was Moro, with his decision, who was the main cause of having a figure like Jair Bolsonaro in power today. The PSL candidate, in turn, became the receptacle of all the hatred towards Lula and the PT that was amalgamated during the insane impeachment process of his successor, President Dilma Rousseff.

Having won a (re)election that conservative and elitist forces never accepted, Dilma embodied the greatest offense for the right wing: Lula was not only the country's greatest political leader, but he could also elect whomever he wanted. The coup against Dilma was the prototype of the greater coup, which was to eliminate Lula from national political life.

In the case of Lula's imprisonment, Jair Bolsonaro's election ratified the role played by the judge from Curitiba, a kind of superhero for a segment of the population that, at one time, banged pots and pans and flashed lights from balconies. It is no coincidence that Sérgio Moro was one of the first figures recruited by Bolsonaro, becoming none other than his Minister of Justice.

If the entire process that culminated in Lula's conviction and imprisonment, leading to the victory of the far-right and its seizure of power, weren't disgraceful enough, his continued imprisonment borders on the unbelievable. In the same week that marked one year since his imprisonment, Lula learned that the Supreme Court, presided over by Dias Toffoli, has indefinitely postponed the decision regarding second-instance convictions, which could lead to his release.

Outside, the country is sinking into the authoritarianism of a government that is trying to eliminate, one by one, all the social gains achieved by the population so far; many of them undeniably achieved during the 13 years of Lula and Dilma's governments. The extinction of more than 700 popular councils is an emblematic decision. The end of the real increase in the minimum wage, to mention the most recent measure, is another.

These are actions that strengthen the scorched-earth, anti-people policy that the government committed to when it won a strange contest that brought to power an unprepared government and a disoriented president. But, a government that was anti-Lula and against all his political ideals. That's how the Bolsonaro government was elected, by people who couldn't even imagine what their victory could bring.

Lula in prison is a symbol of this people's rise to power. Lula on the streets is the greatest threat to them.

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