Arrigo Barnabé to 247: "there is a movement to prevent Lula from being a candidate"

247 - At the start of the second-round debates in 2014, musician Arrigo Barnabé's wife warned him of the danger of voting for Dilma, as he intended: "Look who her vice-president is," she said, alarmed. "She's sick. Temer will take over." He voted for her anyway. That's what he recounts in this live interview on TV 247, conducted by editor Gisele Federicce and columnist Alex Solnik.

One of the innovators of Brazilian music since his first album, the anthological and inimitable “Clara Crocodilo”, Arrigo is now venturing into new musical possibilities as a performer. After several years presenting Lupicínio Rodrigues, he has put together a show with hits by the duo Erasmo Carlos and Roberto Carlos. Arrigo says he finds the 30-year sentence of former minister José Dirceu strange: “The murderer of Glória Perez's daughter is free,” he compares. And he describes the climate in the country presided over by Michel Temer: “The injustice is glaring. You go out on the street, you see injustice. That's always occupying space in my head.”

A former supporter of Marina Silva, he praises Ciro Gomes and Fernando Haddad and condemns the judicial siege against Lula: “I don’t know how things work, to understand. Now, it seems there’s a movement to prevent Lula from being a candidate, that’s what it seems.” Read below the main excerpts from the interview and watch the full interview in the video.

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GISELE FEDERICCE: Why did you, an avant-garde artist, decide to perform shows with songs by Roberto Carlos?

ARRIGO BARNABÉ: I always wanted to do interpretive work. I started doing that in 2009. Until then, I practically didn't act as an interpreter. Only in my own songs. And even then, only as a partial interpreter. And I always thought about Roberto and Erasmo Carlos's work because I thought they had interpretive potential.

ALEX SOLNIK: Does the country's political instability motivate or hinder you? Are you still composing?

ARRIGO: I've been doing some things in the classical music field. I've done some things with Luiz Tatit, I did another piece with Tatit again, which is unpublished, and I'm working on some other things. The situation in the country affects you as a human being. I don't think about it when I'm working, but of course, injustice is a glaring thing. You go out on the street, you see injustice. That's always occupying space in my head.

ALEX: Zé Dirceu's sentence was increased to 30 years. Do you think anything justifies a sentence of that length?

ARRIGO: But will he have to comply with that?

ALEX: There are sentence progressions and stuff...

ARRIGO: Are you going to jail now?

ALEX: He has the right to appeal... ten days... and then he'll go to jail.

ARRIGO: But can't this be converted into something other than prison?

ALEX: No.

ARRIGO: Strange. That guy who killed Glória Perez's daughter has already been released.

GISELE: Have you been following Lava Jato? What is your opinion about the operation?

ARRIGO: I can't get a clear idea about that. But Reinaldo Azevedo talks a lot about the legal issue. He's a severe critic. And he's well-informed. I don't have the knowledge of the intricacies of the justice system, of how things work, to know. Now, it seems there's a movement to prevent Lula from being a candidate, that much is clear.

GISELE: And how do you see 2018? Do you have any expectations about who you will vote for?

ARRIGO: I think... I campaigned for Marina... I like Marina. Everyone speaks ill of Marina... my wife, after she became an evangelical Christian, well... wow!

ALEX: Who became an evangelical Christian? Your wife or Marina?

ARRIGO: Marina...

GISELE: So your wife became more critical then?

ARRIGO: More criticism.

GISELE: The criticism is that she doesn't take a stand outside the electoral arena...like with Temer's reforms, she took too long to take a position...she supported the impeachment...

ARRIGO: She made a lot of mistakes. Did she support the impeachment?

GISELE: Yes, in the name of fighting corruption.

ARRIGO: She had a falling out with Dilma, didn't she? Marina is someone with a long history of activism, someone I supported. But what will 2018 be like? Who's coming up? Will Haddad be a candidate?

GISELE: Lula is somewhat uncertain... Dória and Alckmin are in an internal dispute; it's even possible that both could run if one of them leaves the PSDB...

ARRIGO: I think Ciro Gomes is cool...he's an interesting guy, someone I like...Haddad too...Haddad is a really cool guy...I think it's difficult for him to achieve anything on a national level...

ALEX: Don't you want to do an opera with Temer?

ARRIGO: (Laughs)

ALEX: Because someone has to do it. Doesn't all this sound like an opera? A butler from a horror movie. The other day he said there was a witch hunt going on... isn't that an opera?

ARRIGO: When the second round came, I said: I'm going to vote for Dilma. "But did you see who the vice-presidential candidate is?" Look what they whispered to me...

ALEX: Who blew on you?

ARRIGO: And... "she's sick, she had cancer... he's going to be president!"

ALEX: Who said that? Your wife?

ARRIGO: It was.

ALEX: Your wife is a psychic...and the opera? Wouldn't that make a great opera?

ARRIGO: Yes, it's possible. I'm thinking about what you're saying, these are very interesting things... for a playwright...

ALEX: It's Shakespeare!

GISELE: When you released “Clara Crocodilo”...

ARRIGO: Sir, no! (Laughter)

GISELE: When you released “Clara Crocodilo”...something so different in Brazilian music...were you dissatisfied with everything you were listening to?