More than Two Million Signatures for the Freedom of Lula da Silva

Fernando Gonzalez Llort, president of the Cuban Institute for Friendship with the People (ICAP), handed over in Havana the signature of 2.061,565 Cuban citizens demanding the release of former Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who is unfairly imprisoned to keep him away from Brazil´s political arena.

Gleisi Hoffmann, president of the Workers’ Party in Brazil, received the signatures collected in just thirteen days on behalf of a fair cause.

Ulises Guilarte de Nacimiento, member of the Political Bureau of Cuba´s Communist Party and General Secretary of the Cuban Workers Federation, pointed out that this is a noble cause conveying the commitment of those  who defend progressive ideas and feelings against hypocrisy and manipulation.

Brazilian right-wing fears integration, humanism, and the leadership of Lula da Silva in Latin America. That is why this injustice is being carried out against him for over a year now, noted Guilarte de Nacimiento.

Lula is imprisoned for crimes he never committed, victim of judicial persecution by a government overseen by the White House, which attacks with cynical statements against Cuba and limits the freedoms achieved during progressive governments.

The Cuban trade union leader emphasized the achievements and social measures attained by Brazil in just eight years of government, never before achieved by right-wing leaders. We need to unite our organizations and methods of struggle to withstand this situation, said Ulises Guilarte de Nacimiento and we Cubans remain faithful to our sense of justice.

The battle for Lula΄s liberation is a battle for truth, and the Cuban people supported with their testimony the immediate and unconditional release of the Brazilian former president.

The signatures collected were delivered at the Anti-Imperialist Meeting of Solidarity, for Democracy and Against Neoliberalism, which brings together more than 1,200 delegates from all continents, and which today develops its second day.

CubaSi Translation Staff