Rio de Janeiro – Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Brazil’s pragmatic socialist president, sought here to distinguish himself from his colleagues Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and Fidel Castro of Cuba.
Lula’s comments, which came at an informal gathering in Rio de Janeiro with prominent artists and intellectuals who support his bid for a second term in the Oct. 1 election, were cited in Tuesday’s edition of the daily O Globo.
Responding to foes who claim a second Lula administration would draw inspiration from Chavez’s populism, the Brazilian rejected any comparison with the fiery Venezuelan leader.
“They don’t need to invent and now they come along with that story about Chavism. I’m not going to do any Chavism,” Lula said, according to O Globo. “First, because I’m not Chavez. Second, because this country isn’t Venezuela. This is a country that has a tradition in its institutions.”
During Monday night’s get-together at the home of music superstar and Culture Minister Gilberto Gil, the president acknowledged that his Workers Party, or PT, has made mistakes.
He was referring to the slush-fund scandal that erupted in mid-2005, forcing the resignation of the entire PT leadership as well as that of presidential chief of staff Jose Dirceu.
“The PT erred. Comrades in the PT made mistakes, but I can’t generalize. It was not the entire PT that erred,” Lula said of the party he helped found in 1980.
“Fidel Castro wrote that history will absolve him someday. I don’t have to wait for history. The people will absolve me now,” the president said.
O Globo reported that the head of state also attributed some of the accusations hurled at the PT and his government to “a reaction from the political elite.”
Recent polls show Lula with support from 47 percent of the electorate as he tries to win a second four-year term. His closest challenger, Social Democrat Geraldo Alckmin, trails far behind with 21 percent.
