Lula signs minister Anielle Franco’s affiliation with the PT | Rio de Janeiro

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) and first lady Janja da Silva participated in the event of affiliation of the minister of racial equality, Anielle Franco, to the Workers’ Party (PT), at Circo Voador, in the center of Rio de Janeiro, this Tuesday (2). During the event, Lula stated that the new member of the party will not leave the ministry to be a candidate in the 2024 elections.

“She told me that she has no intention of running for any position now in 2024. She wants to be minister until the last moment. But, when she finishes, when she gets close to the end of the government, there is an election in 2026. Then, then she can give a gossip about her and she then wants to be a candidate for something”, said Lula.

Minister Anielle was one of the names mentioned to be nominated for the post of candidate for vice-mayor of Eduardo Paes (PSD), who is running for re-election in this year’s election.

“My political trajectory did not begin on March 14th (date of Marielle’s death), my political trajectory did not begin when I took office as minister. My political trajectory began to take shape in the Maré favela, when I was still very young. my mother and sister protected me from stray bullets. It starts on the day when the electricity was out and we ran to the neighbor to get a candle. (…) Because black bodies have always been political. We survive and we lives resisting every day”, said the minister.

“I also come here because of Marielle Franco, not because of the cowardice they did to my sister, not because of the brutality they did, but because of what she means”, added Anielle.

Federal deputy Gleisi Hoffmann, president of the party, also participated in the event, as well as important names from the PT: Aloízio Mercadantes, Benedita da Silva, Edson Santos, Lindbergh Faria, Marcelo Freixo, among others.

During the event, Lula addressed the militants and asked them to be “more fierce”.

“It is important for you to be clear, because we are living in a historical moment that is different from what we knew. It is the first time that we have won an election and we have an opponent who tells 50 lies a day, who makes fake news (…) So the PT activist now has to be more militant, he has to be more courageous, he has to be more fierce, because now it’s no joke”, he stated.

“Every single day, Brazilian society is being a victim, here in Brazil, in the United States, in Argentina, in Spain, in Portugal, in Germany, in Hungary, that is, everywhere in the world, Nazism and fascism have returned with a force, that we have to prepare, prepare for what? Prepare to guarantee the survival of democracy, because if it weren’t for democracy, we wouldn’t be here”, he added.

Earlier, President Lula participated in the inauguration of Impa Tech, the first degree in Mathematics at the Institute of Pure and Applied Mathematics (Impa), located in the Port Zone of Rio de Janeiro. Mayor Eduardo Paes shared the platform with the President of the Republic.

Afterwards, Lula was also in Niterói, in the Metropolitan Region, for the launch ceremony of the desilting works on the São Francisco Canal. In partnership with the city of Niterói, the Federal Government project aims to expand the waterway infrastructure of the Niterói Industrial and Port Complex.

The objective is to increase the depth of the Guanabara Bay region, between Conceição Island and the Rio-Niterói Bridge, from 7 to 11 meters. The work will improve the operation of the shipyards, in addition to stimulating the growth of the naval sector in the region. The government hopes that the investment can generate around 20 thousand direct and indirect jobs.