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Paris (AFP) – Former leftist Brazilian presidents Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (2003-2010) and his successor Dilma Rousseff (2011-2016) support radical leftist candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon in the presidential election in France, his team announced Tuesday.
Both, together with the president of the Workers’ Party (PT), Gleisi Hoffmann, wished Mélenchon “success in this week’s election days”, in a brief statement in French published on the website of the “Parliament of the Union Popular” of Mélenchon.
Brazilian politicians also express their “recognition” and “gratitude” to the formation of the French leftist, La France Insoumise (LFI), for their support “in the most difficult moments for democracy” in Brazil, such as “the coup d’état” against Rousseff and the “unfair conviction” of Lula.
Rousseff was overthrown by an impeachment process in 2016 and Lula served more than a year and a half in prison between 2018 and 2019 for corruption allegations that he always denied, in processes for which his judge was later declared biased by the Supreme Court.
Mélenchon visited Lula in prison in 2019.
Currently, the historical leader of the left leads the polls for the October presidential election in Brazil, against the far-right president Jair Bolsonaro.
In November 2021, the former Brazilian president met in Paris with the leftist presidential candidate, but also with the socialist candidate, the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, as part of a European tour.
In France, Liberal President Emmanuel Macron leads the polls in the first round on April 10, followed by Marine Le Pen (extreme right). Mélenchon also appears with options to go to the ballot on April 24.
© 2022 AFP
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