Folha's headline about Alckmin dying tomorrow

Today's Folha headline is "Odebrecht says it paid Alckmin off the books in cash." No one needs to get excited: the pattern is that the allegations die down tomorrow. I even have a theory for this kind of behavior. It's a way for the newspaper to say to its right-wing partners: "look, we're not irrelevant, we can cause damage, pay attention to us."

More interesting is the article's box, "Others mentioned by the construction company." It lists Temer, Serra, Geddel, Jucá, Mantega. All associated with large sums of money. Also included is Moreira Franco, who allegedly solicited bribes.

And then Lula appears. The accusation? "The Corinthians Arena was built as a kind of gift to Lula."

I don't think a complaint from a construction company should be accepted without investigation. Odebrecht executives speak, it may be true, it may not be. But there's a difference between a complaint and a joke, as is the case with the Itaquerão stadium.

The accusations against Lula are, above all, tinged with class prejudice. Who, other than a worker, would be so irrational as not to know the difference between himself and the football team he supports? Who, other than a poor person, would lead a scheme to embezzle billions of reais in exchange for a small apartment in Guarujá? Or a swimming pool in a state palace?

It's a perverse construct, but one that reveals a profound alignment with the mentality of the Brazilian middle class. Perhaps greater wealth and luxury goods wouldn't have such an impact. Lula embodies evil because, as a proletarian, he is supposedly stealing to ascend to the middle class. And the greatest fear and the evil to be avoided is that the poor might become like them.

(text originally published on their Facebook page)