‘We have to rebel to change the situation’, says Lula about wealth concentration

This Saturday, the 18th, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva called for a popular reaction against an economic system of wealth concentration that obstructs social advancement during an emotional speech to students at popular courses. In his speech, the Chief Executive criticized the market’s reaction to the government’s fiscal policy.

“Nobody is poor because they want to be, nobody likes to dress badly, to eat badly. But there is an economic system that doesn’t allow it, which is the concentration of wealth… And we have to rebel to change this situation,” said Lula.

Before the president, the Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad, had already declared, at the same event, that the country can move forward in combating inequalities and social injustices with “people on the streets fighting for their rights”.

In the wake of the government’s defeat in the attempt to tax financial investments to finance public policies within the limits of the fiscal framework, Haddad reiterated the orientation of putting the “poor in the budget and the rich in income tax”. However, the minister added, this determination, which was made by President Lula, bothers the “upstairs” – that is, the richest.

After the government announced investments of R$108 million in the network of courses that prepare low-income students for university entrance exams, Lula said in his speech that the Pé-de-Meia anti-school dropout program needs to be universalized. “Within the same classroom there is a student who receives the Nest Egg and another who does not. And the difference in salary is 50 cents. So, we are going to approve the universalization of the Nest Egg so that everyone can have the right to study. It’s difficult. Faria Lima will fight with us”, declared the president. He then reiterated the view that putting money into education is not an expense, but rather an investment in the survival of peripheral populations.

The statements took place this Saturday, 18th, during a meeting with students, teachers and coordinators of the National Network of Popular Courses (CPOP), at Ginásio Adib Moysés Dib, in São Bernardo do Campo (SP). On the occasion, Lula was accompanied by ministers Fernando Haddad (Finance), Camilo Santana (Education), Luiz Marinho (Labor) and Paulo Teixeira (Agrarian Development).

To the students, Lula highlighted that the government’s challenge is to give visibility to a large part of the population that was ignored by the “political elite”. When recalling his life trajectory, such as having eaten a piece of bread for the first time at just seven years old, when he was already in São Paulo, the president said that he had many dreams that he was unable to fulfill due to lack of opportunities.

“My obsession with education is because I didn’t have an education,” he said. Lula pointed out that, if he didn’t have the chance, students from popular courses who attended the speech will have the opportunity to enter higher education. “Our destiny, we who set it, you will be whatever you want to be”, exclaimed the president.

In a motivational tone, Lula told the students that no one has the right to give up on their dreams, and that the objective and causes make life worth living. “If it was possible for me, it is possible for you”, declared the president.