By Irene Galindo.
Global Exchange / United Journalists / Peninsula 360 / Rompeviento TV
São Paulo. September 27, 2022.- Former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva met today with representatives of the Brazilian sports sector, such as athletes, former athletes, supporters, journalists and executives. At the meeting held in Ibirapuera, São Paulo, he reiterated that sport should be a tool to improve people's lives and unite Brazil and regretted that today sport is forgotten and that there are times of greater violence than before.
“In my football days, we would go out to Vila Carioca to play at Parque Sao Jorge. Corinthians all together, Corinthians, São Paulinos, Santos, all together. We played, we joked, we made fun of each other and there was no fighting,” said Lula. “Today people are afraid of putting on their team’s shirt and being attacked, and that is motivated by hatred and fascism,” he added.
The former president also regretted that today a pregnant woman was attacked for campaigning for the PT in São Gonçalo, Rio de Janeiro. "A Bolsonarista attacked that woman with blows, because Bolsonarism represents a part of society that we thought did not exist," he said.
Lula recalled that in previous years one could campaign without fear of being attacked because the violence was only verbal.
"Now we have a president who does not distribute books for schools, but is selling weapons, is freeing up the sale of weapons. And the freeing up of weapons is not for poor people because it is drug trafficking, it is organized crime, that is buying weapons," he said.
Violence against Lula supporters has been recurrent in recent weeks. On Monday, the murder of a person in a bar for expressing that he would vote for Lula da Silva was reported. Brazilian police are also investigating a second murder in Rio do Sul, in the Bolsonarist state of Santa Catarina.
Police also said Saturday that a Bolsonaro supporter beat a woman in the city of Angra dos Reis, near Rio de Janeiro, for criticizing the president.
Lula da Silva called on those attending the meeting to help rebuild peace through sport. “We need you, who understand sport, to help build a good sports policy for this country, from childhood to old age. Make sport part of our daily lives. If you contribute, we will succeed,” he concluded.
This note was made with the support of the organization Global Exchange in collaboration with TV Windbreaker, Journalists United and Peninsula 360 Press.
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