Lula da Silva Says He Is Not 'Dead' and Warns He Will Make a Comeback

08/31/2015 - 09h04

Cornered by the crisis that dredged his party and investigated on suspicion of influence peddling, former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) said on Saturday (29) that he will react to the opponents who say he "is dead."

"You only kill a bird that is standing on the branch. So the thing is as follows: I came back to fly", Lula said, a day after he considered the possibility of running again for president in the upcoming elections.

The former president said that he has a "broad back" and that he is going to work so that opponents can then be "bothered" with him and give "a bit of peace" to his successor and political godchild, President Dilma Rousseff.

When spoke alongside the former Uruguayan President Pepe Mujica in an event promoted by the Municipality of São Bernardo do Campo (SP), PT's birthplace, the former president said that he decided to speak more now because "you can't create a leader the same way you make bread".

The PT politician said that his party is the victim of a "criminalization" attempt and that he doesn´t understand the "hatred, the irrational anger" against PT. "Maybe they are right about some of their criticism, but where does this hatred come from?", he asked.

In his speech on Saturday (29), the former president once more attributed the rejection of PT to the "elite"´s dissatisfaction with the social advances promoted by his party since he came to power in 2003.

A friend from the PT politician, Mujica ended up making a troublesome counterpoint to Lula speech. The Uruguayan former president, who had spoken earlier, said that leaders, such as they are, need to learn to respect "those who think differently".

Mujica began his short speech saying that "there are no indispensable men, there are indispensable causes". Criticizing those who act as "kings" after elections, he advised that "the republic should not get sick from monarchy".

Translated by DENISE MOTA

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	Marlene Bergamo/Folhapress
	Former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva spoke alongside former Uruguayan President Pepe Mujica