RIO DE JANEIRO – The link between Lula and Massimo D'Alema is long-standing and runs separate from their respective government roles. It dates back to the early nineties, when the then Brazilian metalworkers' trade unionist participated in the PDS foundation congress in Rimini.
Love at first sight
The Partido dos Trabalhadores of Lula was born in 1990, still in full military dictatorship, without the burden of the communist legacy. D'Alema, as he then wrote, was struck by the "political maturity and refusal of corporatism" of the Brazilian experience, and the encounter between the trade union culture and the Catholic one that led to the foundation of the Lula PT. Until that time, in fact, the strong ties of the PCI-PDS, also because of the common belonging to the Socialist International, were with another Brazilian leader of the left, Leonel Brizola, who had his own party.
Lula and D'Alema together in a shot of 2005 (EPA)
"Resounding injustice"
In 2001, Lula returned to Italy for an event at the Italian European Foundation and invited his Italian friend to Brazil. D'Alema actively participates in the electoral campaign that will see Lula win his first presidency, at the end of 2002. The experience of the Social Forum of Porto Alegre is also underway, with the participation of many exponents of the then Ds. In those years D'Alema is very active in South America, where the left is winning almost everywhere and with moderate and reformist platforms. In Brazil the Italian position in favor of Lula contrasts with that of the European social democracy that prefers its rival Fernando Henrique Cardoso, but D'Alema does not change his mind. Finally, in September last year, D'Alema arrived in Curitiba to visit Lula in prison and support the campaign for his release. "I found it serene and very lucid. He spoke to me much more about the fight against hunger in the world than about his procedural vicissitudes, although he would have reason to be resentful of the resounding injustice he is suffering. He is determined to do everything possible to make the Pt candidate win the election ». Unfortunately for both, however, the pupil of Lula Fernando Haddad will be defeated by the extreme right of Jair Bolsonaro.
© REPRODUCTION RESERVED
Source link
https://www.corriere.it/esteri/19_novembre_09/amicizia-politica-socialismo-lula-d-alema-storia-un-legame-ormai-trentennale-24442d70-0306-11ea-99f9-9c588e5b4be4.shtml
Dmca
