Lula: It was the coup plotters who broke the country.

Maria Carolina Marcello, Reuters Former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva stated this Thursday that if former President Dilma Rousseff made a mistake, it was granting billions in tax breaks to companies to maintain social inclusion policies and create jobs, denying that his successor or the Workers' Party (PT) "bankrupted" the country.

Lula, who did not officially announce his candidacy for the Presidency of the Republic in the upcoming elections, but in a Freudian slip referred to himself as a "candidate," defended the achievements of his government and Dilma's, and promised the audience listening to him at the 33rd Congress of the National Confederation of Education Workers that he would "tour" the country.

The former president took advantage of the speech, often interrupted by shouts of "Lula for president," to reiterate his support for the possibility of new elections this year, adding that only those who emerge from the ballot box will have the "credibility" to rescue the country.

"What we cannot accept is them trying to prove that we bankrupted the country. When they say that Dilma spent too much, and not a single businessman comes forward to defend Dilma, they should have the courage to say that the great mistake of our comrade Dilma was to grant almost 500 billion reais in tax breaks over four years to maintain the policy of job creation," said Lula.

"Dilma did this to maintain payments for social inclusion, to subsidize the 'Minha Casa, Minha Vida' program," he stated, adding that "those who actually broke the country were the coup plotters."

Dilma was removed from office through an impeachment decided by Congress, which deemed illegal fiscal maneuvers known as "pedaladas" (fiscal maneuvers). The former president, as well as Lula and other political leaders now in the opposition, consider that she was the victim of a coup.

Although he had not officially launched his candidacy, Lula spoke as if he were a candidate, and, while citing achievements of the Workers' Party administrations, upon noticing his glasses slipping, he referred to himself as a "candidate" who "doesn't know how to hold his glasses."

Later, when he rhetorically questioned who would be able to pull the country out of the "mud," he was promptly answered by the event participants, who shouted "Lula! Lula!"

"That's a discussion we'll have in 2017," he said. "This year, anyone who thinks they can stop me from doing things in this country can get ready. I'm going back to touring this country," he said at another point.

A strong contender for the upcoming elections, leading in first-round simulations in the latest Datafolha poll, Lula is the target of five criminal cases, three of which originated from Lava Jato. Allies and supporters of the former president see the legal actions as an attempt to disqualify him politically.

"We only have one thing to do: fight, fight, fight, fight and win the people's right to vote for president of the Republic again, perhaps in 2017," he argued, bidding farewell to the audience with "until our victory."

But not all participants at the Congress applauded Lula. As soon as he began his speech, a group of about 15 members of the Central Union and Popular, CSP-Conlutas, linked to the PSTU, left the auditorium in protest against the former president.

According to one of the protesters, CSP-Conlutas was a left-wing opposition to the governments of Dilma and Lula and questions whether there was any progress in education during those administrations. The Central also opposes the government of Michel Temer.