Lula at the São Paulo Forum: the right uses fake news – 06/29/2023 – Politics

President Lula (PT) said this Thursday (29) that the creation of the São Paulo Forum is a “blessing” for Latin America and that it is necessary to re-discuss the discourse of the left to prevent the advance of what he called the “right fascist”.

Lula stated that opponents use “fake news” on the forum to attack the left and made an appeal for unity within the field. For the president, it is better to have “a companion” from the left making “some mistakes” than someone from the extreme right in power.

“Therefore, it is much better to have a companion of ours making some mistakes for us to criticize than someone from the right governing who does not even allow us to have room to criticize, telling lies, using fake news, violating any parameter of dignity for back to power,” he said.

The petista still believes that the “fascist right” has grown and gained space in the world and that it is necessary to rethink the discourse of the left.

“It is necessary for us to re-discuss the discourse of the left. It is necessary for us to repeat what we want and how we are going to achieve it. Many times the right has an easier time than us with the fascist discourse”, he said.

During the speech, Lula said that the forum was created so that leftist parties could win in democracy. The PT commented that he did not let the former president of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, participate in the Forum at the time when his companion from the neighboring country had tried to carry out a coup in the country.

“We didn’t let Chávez participate because he had tried to carry out a coup in Venezuela, he had tried to carry out a coup and when he arrived in El Salvador, we didn’t let Chávez participate. Because you are not democratic, you will not participate in the Forum, everyone was aware of that “, said Lulu.

The Foro de São Paulo, a congregation of leftist parties and movements in Latin America and the Caribbean, is criticized by the right and even by progressive sectors for being complacent with dictatorships in Latin America, especially after the visit of the Venezuelan dictator, Nicolás Maduro, to Brazil.

Lula was at the main event on the opening day of the meeting, in Brasília — it was the first meeting of the alliance of countries since the pandemic and it took place in the Brazilian capital precisely because of the election of the PT in 2022.

The main theme of the event, regional integration, is in line with the PT’s foreign policy agenda, which brought together 11 leaders of South American countries in Brasília last month.

The 26th meeting also takes place in a context of concern on the left with fake news. The version that the Foro de São Paulo intends to implant leftist dictatorships in the region is attributed by PT members to Olavo de Carvalho, writer guru of Bolsonarism who died in January 2022.

With the guideline that the definition of its political regime is up to each country and its population, the forum, which is positioned against imperialism and neoliberalism, avoids dealing with the restriction of opponents and violations of human rights in countries such as Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua.

Asked about collusion with left-wing dictatorships, members of the forum avoided criticizing the authoritarianism of allied countries and argued that the organization values ​​mediation and the construction of dialogue, rejecting interference in the 28 member countries.

In addition, the forum does not take a position on what is not a consensus among the approximately 130 parties and entities that compose it – including nationalists, socialists and communists.

According to the group’s leaders, however, the forum is committed to democracy and all its members defend that the political dispute should take place through elections – and not revolutions.

In Brazil, PT, PC do B and PCB are the parties that make up the forum. With a criticism of Maduro’s authoritarianism, the PSB decided to leave the forum in 2019.

In addition to regional integration, forum organizers say that the discussions will focus on development policies and the environmental preservation agenda for the Amazon.

The event will have foreign guests, such as the Socialist Democrats of America, Senator Bernie Sanders’ group within the US Democratic Party, and the European Left Party, which is part of the European Parliament.