Lula, the 35th President of the Republic of Brazil, was invited to Brussels by the PES and the S&D Group for the “Latin America High Level Meeting”, a forum to discuss progressive policies for the region.
After the meeting, PES President Sergei Stanishev said:
“We had a lot to discuss today with our old friend Lula. The threats to democracy from the populists and the far right, ending inequalities, and standing for equal opportunities, and much more. No matter which side of the Atlantic we are on, we are progressives and we are on the same page.”
Luiz Inácio ‘Lula’ da Silva was the most successful president of Brazil, bringing down poverty numbers and boosting public-funded high education and programmes for minorities and the marginalised. Lula has managed to overcome a series of legal attacks by aides of the far-right populist president Jair Bolsonaro, currently in office. Now, as the country prepares to hold presidential elections next year, Lula stands a serious chance of becoming president of Brazil again.
“Lula’s record on eradicating poverty and promoting, democracy, civil rights and freedom for the Brazilian people are still remembered and cherished. He is the best president Brazil can have to overcome this period of confrontation and mismanagement.”, Stanishev added.
Maria João Rodrigues, President of the European Foundation of Progressive Studies (FEPS), Andreas Schieder, MEP and Co-Chair of the Global Progressive Forum; Conny Reuter, Global Coordinator of the Progressive Alliance, and Giacomo Filibeck, Deputy Secretary General of the PES, attended the meeting in Brussels.
