dagblog - Comments for "Lula ordered to jail, plunging Brazil into political chaos ahead of presidential election"

has good background summary

artappraiser — Tue, 10 Apr 2018 22:21:08 +0000

In reply to Lula ordered to jail, plunging Brazil into political chaos ahead of presidential election

has good background summary analysis, whatever your opinion:

Testing Brazil’s Democracy

By CAROL PIRES Ms. Pires is a political reporter in Brazil.

@ NYTimes.com, April 10

Does democracy have anything to gain from the former president’s arrest for corruption?

Ex-President ‘Lula’ of Brazil

artappraiser — Sun, 08 Apr 2018 01:47:21 +0000

In reply to Lula ordered to jail, plunging Brazil into political chaos ahead of presidential election

Ex-President ‘Lula’ of Brazil Surrenders to Serve 12-Year Jail Term

By MANUELA ANDREONI, ERNESTO LONDONO and SHASTA DARLINGTON @ NYTimes.com, April 7

CURITIBA, Brazil — After vowing for months that a conviction on corruption charges would not stand in the way of his bid for a third term as Brazil’s leader, former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva surrendered to the police on Saturday evening to begin serving a 12-year sentence.

His imprisonment was an ignominious turn in the remarkable political career of Mr. da Silva, the son of illiterate farmworkers who faced down Brazil’s military dictators as a union leader and helped build a transformational leftist party that governed Brazil for more than 13 years.

His detention was also a momentous development in the coming election in Brazil, upending the race to replace President Michel Temer in October.

Having carved out a sustained and ample lead in the polls, Mr. da Silva promised his followers that the Workers’ Party could once again wrest control of Brazil’s destiny, and prioritize policies to narrow the country’s steep inequality.

Succeeding would have been a stunning comeback after the 2016 impeachment of Mr. da Silva’s handpicked successor, Dilma Rousseff. She was replaced by Mr. Temer, a deeply unpopular center-right politician who also stands accused of corruption [.....]

Facing 5 p.m. Surrender

artappraiser — Fri, 06 Apr 2018 18:19:43 +0000

In reply to Lula ordered to jail, plunging Brazil into political chaos ahead of presidential election

Facing 5 p.m. Surrender Deadline, Brazil’s Ex-President Lula Remains Defiant

The decision by former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva raised the specter of a dramatic showdown with law enforcement officials

By Shasta Darlington & Ernesto Londono @ NYTimes.com, 16 min. ago

SÃO BERNARDO DO CAMPO, Brazil — Ringed by supporters ahead of a possible showdown with law enforcement, former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil suggested on Friday that he would defy a 5 p.m. deadline to report to prison to begin serving his sentence for a corruption conviction.

Mr. da Silva, a polarizing but still enormously popular politician in Brazil, Latin America’s largest country, showed no sign he would willingly travel from his old union headquarters near São Paulo to the prison in the southern city of Curitiba, a day after a judge issued a warrant for his arrest.

José Chrispiniano, a spokesman for Mr. da Silva, said the former president’s defense lawyers had filed an emergency petition to stave off the warrant and were awaiting a ruling.

Mr. da Silva’s effort to avoid prison comes as he is leading in political polls as a candidate to win the next presidential election.

He was not considering traveling to Curitiba, Mr. Chrispiniano said, partly because he cannot afford to make the trip [....]