I can't accept it: it's not fair, it's not "normal" for Lula to remain imprisoned while Brazil falls apart outside.

By Ricardo Kotscho, in Kotscho's Basket and for the Journalists for Democracy

Dear friend Lula,

It's been a long time...

What a great idea this initiative from the website "Letters to Lula" is.

Since I'm unable to travel to Curitiba for a visit, I wrote you a letter some time ago, but I don't know if it reached you.

I'm sure this one will arrive. The mailman is trustworthy...

I have nothing good to tell you, as you must already know, even though you still have more hair on your head than I do...

In short, "things are bad here," as Chico sang, back in the days of the other dictatorship.

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I simply cannot accept that you remain imprisoned for over a year, tortured to this day by the judge who convicted you, and then became a minister in this unspeakable government.

They don't just want to destroy you, but your entire family, your friends, your party, the many legacies your government left behind, your history, the memory of our generation, which reclaimed democracy in the streets, now threatened once again.

And in this macabre fate, they are destroying the country.

Since the last time I saw you at the union, last year, on the eve of your arrest, everything has gotten worse out here, the country is falling apart, without any reaction, as if all this were the "new normal," and your unbelievable and unjust imprisonment had already become part of the Curitiba landscape.

Instead of dreams, now we only have nightmares. They are destroying, one by one, all the social achievements of your government, as if we had been invaded by a foreign power.

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According to what Frei Chico tells me, with whom I still have lunch from time to time at the old Sujinho (remember the big steak?), your health is good, you're strong and healthy there in prison, with a clearer and more lucid view of the country than we are, facing this ordeal with great dignity.

We are living through an endless nightmare that has become a reality in broad daylight, and no one knows what to do in the face of this veritable massacre against Brazilians.

It's sad, but I have to tell you that "our little pet," as you used to call him, seems completely lost now, arguing with that crazy son of the captain on social media.

I remember well the beginning of our friendship, about 40 years ago.

During the metalworkers' strikes, journalists would ask me, "Who's influencing Lula?", as if you needed an Olavo de Carvalho to guide you.

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They speculated about various names, but I tried to explain to them that none of that was true, that there was no one behind Lula, because the exact opposite was happening.

You were the one who "influenced" not only the rank and file, but also the "black moons" of academia and the old left who sought you out at the union when this story began, back in the late 70s of the last century.

That's precisely what we're missing most now, more than ever: a Lula.

We no longer have leaders capable of showing us a horizon and nurturing hope for the future, without which no one can survive.

We've reached the breaking point: we live in a country without a government and without an opposition.

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In difficult times, during campaigns and in government, you were always the one who sought to encourage the troops, calm the anxious, and point out ways to overcome crises.

Our mutual friends who managed to visit you, all of them, like Frei Betto, tell me that they leave your cell stronger, more willing to fight and overcome obstacles than when they arrived.

You always reversed the order of things. Even when you were being treated for laryngeal cancer, instead of complaining about fate, you were only interested in knowing about friends who were having health problems.

I would ask about the families of those who visited me in the hospital, and about the whereabouts of our comrades who had vanished into thin air, many of whom were labeled corrupt and were facing hardship.

Others have always been more important in your conversations, and by that I mean not only those closest to you, but the millions you managed to win over in your long journey for a more just, less unequal, more humane Brazil – the complete opposite of what we are witnessing now.

You just have to watch it, because nobody does anything, not even me, besides writing every day on my blog about the daily misfortunes produced by the crazy tenants of the Palácio do Planalto (Presidential Palace).

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It feels like we're watching a movie playing in reverse, going back in time to when we met in the dying days of the military dictatorship.

They've even gone back to the same old speeches about law and order, against corruption, against "communism," against the "subversion" of the reds.

To give you an idea of ​​the scourge we are experiencing out here, I've noticed that people are avoiding wearing red clothes for fear of being attacked in the street by the troglodytes of the new order on the march.

We need to talk in person someday about what has changed in my life lately, each day bringing new agony.

I'm having trouble walking to the corner market, two blocks from here. My whole body aches. That's why I've hardly been leaving the house.

I miss hearing your voice when I no longer know what I should do to go back to joking around with others and laughing at silly things, making fun of each other, the great fun we had during our time off in government.

I never imagined that all this could happen to us, approaching 70 years of age and still having trouble even surviving.

Worst of all, I know, is losing your freedom.

We just can't lose our good humor, our joy of living, and our hope for tomorrow.

At least we have stories to tell our friends. We've done so many good things together in life that I'm very proud of.

It won't be easy, nothing ever has been easy, you know.

Hang in there! See you soon!

A big hug, my friend, with a pat on the head, like you always did...

Ricardo Kotscho

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