Brazil’s Lula comes out swinging at Jair Bolsonaro in return to politics
- The left-wing leader slammed the president’s ‘imbecile’ handling of the coronavirus pandemic
- While vowing to ‘fight tirelessly’ for Brazil, Lula declined to say if he would contest next year’s election
Brazil’s former leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva made his return to politics on Wednesday with a virulent attack on President Jair Bolsonaro and his “imbecile” handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
Lula, who led Brazil from 2003 to 2010, has emerged as a leading contender to face the far-right incumbent in presidential elections next year, after a Supreme Court justice annulled the popular but tarnished leftist’s corruption convictions on Monday, reinstating his right to run for office.
In his first comments since the ruling, Lula, 75, gave a scathing take-down of Bolsonaro’s management of the economy and signature policies.
He was especially biting on Bolsonaro’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed more than 268,000 people in Brazil – the second-highest death toll worldwide, after the United States.
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Bolsonaro has repeatedly downplayed the new coronavirus, flouted expert advice on containing it and fueled vaccine scepticism.