Workers’ Party Confirms Benedita’s Mayoral Candidacy in Rio: “We Will Follow Lula’s Primer”

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Workers’ Party (PT) confirmed yesterday morning the pre-candidacy of Federal Deputy Benedita da Silva to become Mayor of Rio de Janeiro. The party associated her image with ex-president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva when it announced the candidacy, in an alliance with the PCdoB (Communist Party).

Lula recorded a message of support, reproduced during the broadcast. An evangelical, Benedita also addressed the religious cohort. The party stressed the importance of increasing its representation in City Hall.

In his speech, Lula spoke about a way to govern in favor of the people and praised Benedita. “In Rio, Benedita is prepared to make the changes our people need,” he said.

Next, Tiago Santana, the PT’s municipal president, associated the image of the ex-president with the dispute in the Rio elections. At the time, he also made reference to “Crivella’s Guardians,” as the WhatsApp group formed by servants was called, investigated for monitoring and preventing reports on the public health crisis outside municipal hospitals.

“Let’s follow Lula’s primer by taking care of the poorest and the people. We want to be the guardians of the people. The people are the ones who need to be protected from the weaning and the abandonment of Crivella’s administration, which said it was going to take care of the people and has not taken care of anyone,” said Tiago Santana.

In her address, Benedita also quoted Lula on two occasions. In the first, she spoke about the vigor of the ex-president to then strengthen her own candidacy.

“I am 78 years old. I don’t have Lula’s 30-year vigor. But I have the vigor of courage and determination. Because I’m a mother, I’m a grandmother, I’m a great-grandmother. I want to be someone they can look at and say: ‘despite her age, she went ahead,'” she said.

On another occasion, she again spoke of the ex-president to position herself on a resumption of growth in the city of Rio.

“As Lula has taught us, Rio de Janeiro can grow again. But not only under the hill [on the tarmac]. It will also grow up on the hill [in the favelas],” said Benedita da Silva.

She also mentioned the attempt at an alliance between the PT and the PSOL (Socialism and Liberty Party), which failed to materialize -Benedita had an agreement to be the vice-chairman of a coalition that would be headed by Federal Deputy Marcelo Freixo, which ultimately failed after the deputy announced that he would withdraw his candidacy in May. She then said she accepted the invitation made by the PT to become a candidate.

“I made myself available to be the vice-mayoral candidate in the coalition the party was looking for, to strengthen the left-wing. And that party didn’t achieve this unity at that first moment,” she said.

With an eye on the evangelical electorate, she emphasized that she was Pentecostal. “The PT knows that I am a woman who prays, who visits the sick, who visits prisons, who goes to the favelas long before the birth of the Worker’s Party. And I remain this militant Benedita in my social causes,” she said.

Enlargement of the bench

Benedita also stressed the concern in expanding the party’s presence in the City Council. “We will be able to build a good bench. The Workers’ Party deserves it and we need to raise our flags in the City Hall,” she said.

City councilors Reimont and Luciana Novaes also joined the broadcast to discuss the issue. “We are fighting for a larger bench. I’m making myself available to the PT,” said Luciana.

Reimont, who praised the backstage efforts to establish the coalition with the PCdoB, has positioned himself as a partner for the party’s city council candidates.

“We are partners. We fight in the same trenches. Our opponents are those who want to weaponize the city. We want to provide the city with opportunities,” said Reimont.

He said he believes Benedita will beat Mayor Marcelo Crivella (Republicans) and former Mayor Eduardo Paes (Democrats) at the polls. “We will push Crivella out at the polls if the impeachment under consideration on September 17th does not prosper”.

Source: UOL