'I was arrested to prevent the people from telling me to spend another four years in the Presidential Palace'

247 - Former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva stated, through a letter read during a congress promoted by the Federation of Municipalities of Santa Catarina (Fecam), held in Santa Catarina, that the so-called "Spending Cap Amendment," approved by Michel Temer and which limits budget spending for a period of 20 years, will make the management of the federal government and also of the municipalities unfeasible. "You know what the Spending Cap Amendment will mean for the municipalities. The country cannot simply continue on the path of cuts in investments and social policies," said Lula in the letter read by the former mayor of Osasco, Emídio de Souza.

In the text, Lula told the mayors that "if I have the honor of being president of Brazil once again, there will be dialogue and respect once again." The former president, who is imprisoned in Curitiba, reiterated his innocence and said that his conviction was aimed at "preventing the Brazilian people from sending me to spend another four years in the Presidential Palace."

"These days may seem difficult. But, as Chico Buarque's song says, tomorrow will be another day, a day when the people will express their will democratically at the ballot box. And I know that it is this will that will get Brazil out of this situation," he concluded.

The event, which began on Monday (11) and will end this Thursday (14), features the participation of several pre-candidates for the Presidency of the Republic such as Geraldo Alckmin (PSDB), Ciro Gomes (PDT), Henrique Meirelles (MDB), Aldo Rebelo (SD), João Amoedo (Novo) and João Vicente Goulart (PPL).