Brazil ex-prez gets big house
‘Lula’ sent to jail after standoff
Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was sent to jail for 12 years Saturday after a tense showdown with his own supporters.
Just hours earlier, the once wildly popular da Silva told thousands of supporters that he would turn himself in to police — although he maintained that he is innocent.
He said his corruption conviction last year was simply a way for enemies to make sure he doesn’t run for — and possibly win back — the presidency in October.
When he first tried to leave to turn himself in, however, dozens of supporters blocked a gate where a car carrying da Silva was trying to exit.
“Surround, surround [the building] and don’t let them arrest him,” chanted da Silva’s supporters.
After a few minutes of tense exchanges between guards and supporters, the former president got out of the car and entered the metal workers union headquarters where he had been holed up.
Police vehicles surrounded the union, which was the birthplace of da Silva’s rise to power, raising the fears of clashes.
Da Silva emerged a second time shortly after nightfall, this time surrounded by bodyguards who pushed back scores of supporters trying to stop his advance.
Taking refuge in the metal workers union — and not at his party headquarters — made for an intended dramatic touch, said Mauricio Santoro, a political science professor at the State University of Rio de Janeiro.
“It shows that he wants to emphasize his trajectory as leader of a social movement, rather than his role as leader of a party marked by allegations of corruption,” Santoro said.
Last year, a judge convicted da Silva of trading favors with a construction company in exchange for the promise of a beachfront apartment.
That conviction was upheld by an appeals court in January.
Da Silva has always denied wrongdoing in that case and in several other corruption investigations that have yet to be tried.
Still, his jailing marks a colossal fall from grace for a man who rose from poverty to power against steep odds.
Born in the hardscrabble north- east, da Silva rose through the ranks of the union in the country’s industrial south.
In 1980, during the military dictatorship, he was arrested in Sao Bernardo do Campo for organizing strikes.
He would spend more than a month in jail.
After running for president several times, in 2002 da Silva won.
He governed from 2003 to 2010, leaving office an international ce- lebrity and with approval ratings in the high 80s.
Workers’ Party leaders insist that da Silva, 72, whose followers call him “Lula,” will still be the party’s candidate in October. Technically, being jailed does not keep him off the ballot.
But in August, the country’s top electoral court makes final decisions about candidacies. It’s expected to deny da Silva’s bid.