At the CUT (Unified Workers' Central), Lula confronts: "The media supported the dictatorship"
Former president Lula said that traditional media never wanted direct elections for president of the Republic; opening the 30th anniversary celebrations of the CUT (Central Única dos Trabalhadores, a major Brazilian labor union), in São Paulo, Lula defended a media outlet run by "those from the bottom up"; "Why don't we organize our collective thought?", he asked, to applause; the CUT's Workers' TV channel is receiving new investments; this movement will undoubtedly spark more criticism of the PT (Workers' Party) leader in the so-called major newspapers.
247 – In a good mood and beginning a speech with stories to "lighten the soul," former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva harshly criticized the traditional media during an event launching the 30th anniversary of the CUT (Central Única dos Trabalhadores) this Wednesday, the 27th, in São Paulo. In his assessment, labor movements need to stop complaining about not having been featured in newspapers or receiving media attention. "These opinion leaders defended the dictatorship," said Lula.
The attack continued: "These people never wanted elections to happen, they only published the Diretas Já protests when there were already 300 people in the streets, they only published when we were already in the streets," said the former president. According to him, the ideal would be to form a collective thought regarding the media, instead of each person saying what they think separately. In this way, a media of "those from the lower classes" would be created.
"Why don't we start organizing our media? Instead of everyone saying what they think, why don't we organize a collective thought? We can do this," he argued, in a speech punctuated by applause. In yet another provocation to the press, the Workers' Party member also said that many times protests by society are ignored by major newspapers, but that "when it's against the government, it gets published."
Trade union movement
The former president heaped praise on the Central Workers' Union (CUT) in terms of its organization and representativeness within the current labor movement. He stated that CUT is the "most important workers' organization in Latin America, it has no equal" and that "historically it owes nothing to anyone in the world."
Lula recalled that the labor union achieved a very important feat, which was to introduce political awareness among workers. "What the CUT (Unified Workers' Central) has achieved here is something to be celebrated and something to be remembered for many generations," said the Workers' Party member. Regarding the country's economic situation, Lula said that the scenario will improve, "despite those who hope it won't."
"This CUT [Central Única dos Trabalhadores - Unified Workers' Central] cannot lose its radicalism," he told the union's plenary session. "But that doesn't mean it can do stupid things. It can do one or two stupid things, but not all the time," he joked, drawing applause from the audience. He closed his speech expressing optimism. "I want to tell you that I am happy."