Argentinians Fernández and Kirchner Join Petition for Lula’s Release

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Several leftist political leaders from Argentina issued a manifesto in defense of the release of former Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, convicted and arrested by Operation Car Wash 500 days ago. Co-signers include former Argentine President Cristina Kirchner and leading presidential candidate Alberto Fernández.

Or in other words: now that Bolsonaro has interfered several times (unsuccessfully) in Argentinian affairs, the successful leftist duo from Argentina is shooting back, sending at the same time a signal to their electorate that they are not Bolsonaro’s and Trump’s puppets.

The petition also includes leaders of Avós da Praça de Maio Estela de Carlotto, former Finance Minister Cristina Axel Kiciloff, and former presidential candidate Sergio Massa, among other senators, deputies, trade unionists, teachers, journalists, and artists.

During his campaign for the primaries, when he won a fifteen-point lead over president Mauricio Macri and became the favorite for the October elections, Fernández visited Lula at the Curitiba prison and defended his release.

Fernández’s proximity to Lula has provoked criticism from president Jair Bolsonaro, who has previously associated former Argentine president Kirchner with other leftist leaders from Brazil and Latin America, such as Lula, former president Dilma Rousseff, Venezuelans Nicolás Maduro and Hugo Chávez, and former Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

“Look what is happening with Argentina now. Argentina is plunging into chaos. Argentina is beginning to follow Venezuela because, in the primaries, leftist crooks have begun to return to power,” the president said in Parnaíba, state of Piauí, where he participated in a ceremony relating to an irrigation project.

Bolsonaro supports Mauricio Macri’s reelection, although analysts say his support for the Argentine president is not well regarded by the neighboring country, as a result of statements made in favor of military dictatorship by the Brazilian president.

Between 1978 and 1983, Argentina lived one of the continent’s most violent dictatorships, with over 30,000 dead and missing.

Fernández responded to the Brazilian president last week. “With Brazil, we will have a splendid relationship. Brazil will always be our main partner. Bolsonaro is an incident in the life of Brazil, as Macri is an incident in the life of Argentina,” Fernández said in an interview with “Corea del Centro” from Net TV.

“Now, politically speaking, I have nothing to do with Bolsonaro. I hugely celebrate that he speaks ill of me. He is a racist, a misogynist, and violent … What I would ask president Bolsonaro is to let Lula free and hold a new election with Lula free,” he added.