Owner of millionaire assets, Lula says he is not “frustrated by being poor”

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) said on Friday (25) that he is poor, but he does not consider himself frustrated by it. The phrase was said during the closing event of the Brazil-Angola Economic Forum, held in the capital of the African country, Luanda.

The petista – who last year declared to the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) that he had assets of BRL 7.4 million – took advantage of the speech to once again criticize Lava Jato and the press coverage of the operation.

“I confess that I cannot accept that it is normal for a citizen to be born poor and die poor. Your child is born poor and dies poor. It’s not possible, it’s not normal. And don’t think I’m frustrated because I’m poor, no,” she said, making the audience laugh.

Then, the president stated that Operation Lava Jato gave him a “certificate of poverty”. “[A Lava Jato] He was poking around my life, my phone, my bank account, my five children. He broke into my house, he went to Switzerland, he went to the US Department of Justice. And they didn’t find a dollar, a penny. But they didn’t have the courage to admit it, because they had already lied a lot to Brazilian society. I know that here in Angola you read the magazine Look”, he stated.

According to TSE data, Lula claims to be the owner of three apartments (two worth R$19,000 each and one for R$94,000), three plots of land (R$2,700, R$130,000 and R$265 thousand) and two cars (R$ 48 thousand and R$ 85 thousand). The president also informed that he has an investment of R$ 5.5 million in a VGLB (Vida Generador de Benefício Livre) pension fund.