The organizations and social movements articulated in the Facilitating Group of the World Social Forum 2018, which planetary edition was held last March in Salvador-Bahia with the participation of the former President of the Republic, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, declare their solidarity with Lula as a prisoner and urge the other international social organizations and movements to join in the mobilizations that are pressing the authorities of the Brazilian judiciary to fulfill their legal responsibilities and recognize the illegality of the political, non-juridical judgment used to arbitrarily condemn him.
After the parliamentary, legal and media coup that overthrew in 2016 the democratically elected President Dilma Rousseff, without any constitutional basis, our country was thrown into a serious economic, political and institutional crisis that, in addition to deeply affecting human, social, economic and environmental conditions of the Brazilian population, changed the political landscape of the Latin American Continent. This situation worsened with the political imprisonment of President Lula, who underwent an exception process, in which no evidence was presented.
The organizations and social movements that work within the scope of the WSF are radically against any form of corruption, whether it is carried out on the margins of legal norms or even under the mantle of legality. However, the fight against corruption can not be used selectively by sectors committed to maintaining international economic structures to perpetuate the mechanisms that promote injustice and inequality in our continent and around the world.
The political imprisonment of former President Lula is an attempt to bar a project wich is different from that imposed by the interests of big international capital, the financial system and multinational companies that want only profit, even if at the expense of thousands of lives human; We defend that the Brazilian people, who desire life, health, safety, peace, education and social welfare, can freely choose the project that represents the interests of their majority.
In this sense, besides defending the right of former President Lula to be part of the electoral process, the defense of his freedom means to defend democracy. The current situation of serious crises and social conflicts in Brazil and in all Latin America can only be overcome with the expansion and radicalization of democratic mechanisms.
The social movements and organizations working within the framework of the World Social Forum warn that the current model of development centered on dependence on fossil energy sources such as oil and economic models focused on the export of commodities by large companies is unsustainable and will lead humanity to a major economic and social collapse. The recent strike by freelance truckers and the loco of transport companies, for example, demonstrated not only the fragility and political isolation of the illegitimate government of Temer, but also the enormous dependence of the country on a few economic segments.
Therefore, we reaffirm that another world is possible, is urgent and necessary, and that the bases of this other way of life are being discussed, dialogued and practiced by the social organizations and movements that participate in the processes of the WSF. We argue that only democracy it may allow humanity to decide the course it wants to rediscover the ways of survival.
Finally, we reaffirm that the political imprisonment of former President Lula is an affront to democracy, a profound historical setback and must be repudiated throughout the world.
In Defense of Democracy
#LulaLivre
#OutTemer!
#OtherWorldisPossible
Organizations of the Facilitating Group of the World Social Forum – June 2018.
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