Lula, the political animal

By Denise Assis, for 247 

In both his speech to Congress and the one addressed to the crowd on the Esplanade of Ministries on the day of his inauguration, January 1st, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva already demonstrated the extent of his political maturity. In the meeting with his ministers, however, he managed to translate this into words and actions, when he gave a precise overview of how the machinery of power works. 

The understanding he demonstrated when addressing the heterogeneous group that will accompany him at the beginning of his government – ​​because we know there are always departures along the way – was diametrically opposed to that of his predecessor, who barely knew how to navigate the three branches of government with which he clashed due to a complete ignorance of how the governmental system worked. To such an extent that, at the end of four years, when talking to a staff member at the Palace, he asked for an explanation of the difference between vacation and recess. And he couldn't possibly know, because he had never worked.

As for Lula, he went through an intensive apprenticeship. When he ascended the ramp of the Planalto Palace on the first day of 2003, as president-elect, he was imbued with the emotion of a poor boy who started eating bread at the age of seven, carrying with him a diploma as a lathe operator and many rounds of negotiations with the business community as a union leader. This combination of skills led him to act with intuition and assertiveness, resulting in his re-election and his departure with an approval rating of around 87%.

All this, however, was not enough to make him accepted where he will never be: in the carpeted salons of the elite, where Lula will always be seen as the semi-literate northeasterner from Garanhuns. When they see him entering anywhere, in well-tailored suits and with poise, they don't see him as someone who has risen, but as an invader of their chic spaces. An intruder.

Throughout his career, the title of former president, which in any educated person would provoke genuflections and obsequious gestures, for Lula meant trials and, ultimately, imprisonment.

They locked up a political animal. They gave him the chance to be nourished by what he never had: peace. By nature and activity, he lived a life of travel and meetings. Thus, confined to his silence, the animal fed on what he was most accused of lacking: knowledge. And Lula became a political monster.

Addressing his ministers, he challenged those who, in the early days of his government, demanded of him what, in four years of fascism, ignorance, negligence, and vandalism, was not asked of his predecessor. He demanded proof that he would do what needs to be done, within the strict constraints to which neoliberal groups, the wealthy, and those in the richest 1% of the planet are accustomed. There, the "viper" wagged its tail. In his speech, he expressed the conviction that at 77 years old he doesn't have to prove what he has already proven: to be a political animal capable, now, of playing the game that needs to be played.

When Arthur Lira, the shrewd one, tried to corner him, Lula called him to play (with the invaluable help, I must say, of Minister Rosa Weber, who shed light on the odious "secret budget"). He looked at the Speaker of the House as an equal and, subliminally, implied that in the name of the country he has to govern, he does not fear him; on the contrary, he will engage in dialogue with him on all his disproportionate demands.

He brought the president of Congress, Rodrigo Pacheco, into his camp and committed him to his social agenda, leaving little room for maneuver for him to escape and – although he will not betray his own – he will also not expose himself to the public eye as someone who opposes the needs of those who have now gained visibility, climbing the ladder.

In the peace and quiet of his cell, Lula acquired what was always demanded of him, but was never the true reason for the rejection of his government: knowledge. Reason or not, the tools that now serve him cannot be taken away from him. Lula read: 

PT Governments: A Legacy for the Future (Aloizio Mercadante and Marcelo Zero/Perseu Abramo Foundation Publisher)This book is part of an effort to reveal and analyze the legacy of the PT governments. Not only to show what was done in the past, but fundamentally to reveal what can be done in the future. (Yes, Lula had time to reassess his own party.)

In search of lost development: a new developmentalist project for Brazil (Bresser-Pereira/Editora FGV)which aims to discuss the Brazilian economy since 1990, when the developmentalist economic policy regime was abandoned and the country began to implement a liberal economic policy regime.

About China (Henry Kissinger/Objetiva Publishers)

In this book, the feared former US Secretary of State writes about a country he knows intimately and whose modern relations with the West he helped shape. Drawing on historical accounts and his conversations with various Chinese leaders over a forty-year period, the author examines how China has approached diplomacy, strategy, and negotiation throughout its history, and seeks to reflect on the consequences of its rapid growth for the balance of power in the 21st century. (To drink from the wellspring of the Almighty? No. To understand where China, the world power and our main trading partner, whom his predecessor kicked and trampled, is headed).

Letters from Prison by Nelson Mandela (Nelson Mandela/Todavia Publishing)Letters from Nelson Mandela's Prison, a historic work: the first – and only – authorized collection of correspondence covering the twenty-seven years the South African leader spent incarcerated. (Lula was certainly seeking moderation).The Brazilian Underclass: Who They Are and How They Live (Jessé Souza/Contracorrente Publishing House), a A classic of Brazilian social thought that gives visibility to the "Brazilian rabble," a "social class" never perceived as a "class" among us, that is, never perceived as possessing a social genesis and a common destiny, and seen only as "groups of individuals" who are needy or dangerous. (The result of this reading was seeing them hand him the presidential sash).

Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth (Reza Aslan/Zahar Publishing)Two thousand years ago, a Jewish preacher traveled through Galilee performing miracles and gathering followers to establish what he called the "Kingdom of God." He launched a revolutionary movement so threatening to the established order that he was captured, tortured, and executed as a state criminal. His name was Jesus of Nazareth. A few decades after his death, his followers would call him "the Son of God" (to relate to their faith).

He also read about: Oil – A worldwide history of conquest, power and money (Daniel Yergin/Paz Terra Publisher) Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, this book traces the comprehensive history of the world's most important fuel. Placing it at the center of the most important decisions of the 20th century, expert Daniel Yergin, an international authority on the subject, shows how oil influenced wars, spurred technological transformations, and generated the greatest wealth on the planet. (He certainly took into account the motivations behind the 2016 coup).

He read extensively about structural racism to understand the nefarious legacy of slavery in Brazil, and the biography of Getúlio Vargas, perhaps seeking to understand how the "system" can destroy a man, but never his legacy. 

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