Lula’s meeting increases tensions in social movements – 04/07/2024 – Panel

The meeting held by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) with leaders of social movements this Saturday (6) heightened pre-existing tensions in civil society groups and generated discomfort and discomfort in those who were overlooked.

Critics claim that the group of guests was formed with the main concern of pleasing the PT, relegating others to the background. On the government side, the statement is that it was an informal, more personal meeting with the president.

The meeting took place at Granja do Torto, the Presidency’s country residence, and was held with the aim of listening to leaders about their areas of activity. Members of the MST (Landless Rural Workers Movement), FUP (Frente Única dos Petroleiros), the ABC Metalworkers Union, the CUT (Central Única dos Trabalhadores), among others, were present.

In the case of UNE (National Union of Students), Daiane Araújo, vice-president, and Julia Köpf, general secretary, were called, but not the president, Manuella Mirella.

UNE released a statement saying that the institution was not called to the meeting. Almost four hours later, he added that Daiane and Julia “were invited by name” and reiterated that there was no institutional invitation.

Manuella is part of the UJS (União da Juventude Socialista), linked to the PCdoB. Daiane is from the Levante Popular da Juventude (historically linked to PT and MST), and Julia, in turn, works in the PT youth.

The president’s nominal invitation and UNE’s public reaction generated friction between wings of the student movement throughout Saturday.

In the trade union world, the invitation made only to the CUT generated irritation in the other trade union centers. The group had been jointly asking for a meeting with the president for months and was surprised by the presence of Sergio Nobre, president of the CUT, at the meeting. Ricardo Patah, president of UGT (União Geral dos Trabalhadores), and Miguel Torres, from Força Sindical, were with him in recent days on a trip to Uruguay, when they discussed the need to hold a meeting with the president.

The heads of the centrals point out that the PT member was elected with the support of the union movement as a whole in 2022, and not just the central that Lula helped to found and which is close to the PT.

“He cannot value one central to the detriment of the others. If it were just for the CUT, he would not be elected. He was elected because we were together”, said Ricardo Patah, president of UGT (União Geral dos Trabalhadores).

The main target of criticism has been Márcio Macêdo, chief minister of the General Secretariat of the Presidency, responsible for organizing the meeting.

President of the PT, Gleisi Hoffmann was at the meeting and tells the column that this group of organizations “had been meeting with the president since before 2018, with representations varying slightly”. According to her, Lula wants smaller groups “to be able to listen.”

“There were no exclusions, just the beginning of a process of meetings with leaders of popular and trade union movements”, he says.

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