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| Former Brazilian President Lula da Silva tells The Intercept's Glenn Greenwald that a "political coup" is being waged in the country. | Photo: Reuters |
In an exclusive interview with Glenn Greenwald, Lula explains the politics around the current impeachment process in Brazil.
A “political coup” is
being waged in Brazil, according to former Brazilian President Luiz
Inacio Lula da Silva, referring to the impeachment process being carried out against President Dilma Rousseff and the ruling left-wing Workers' Party.
In an exclusive interview with The Intercept, Glenn Greenwald pushes
Lula to explain why he has referred to Rousseff's impeachment
proceedings as a “coup,” since it is being carried out under the
authority of the Supreme Court.
Lula explains
that the process is in fact a “political coup” because “these people
want to remove Dilma from office by disrespecting the law.”
While the Brazilian Constitution allows for an impeachment, it is
necessary for the person to have committed what we call high crimes and
misdemeanors. And President Dilma did not commit a high crime or a
misdemeanor,” said Lula. “Therefore what is happening is an attempt by
some to take power by disrespecting the popular vote.”
Those seeking to impeach
President Rousseff are claiming that Rousseff's government manipulated
state accounts in 2014 to disguise a widening fiscal deficit as she
campaigned for re-election. However the president has not been found
guilty of any wrongdoing.
“Anyone who wants
to become president, instead of trying to take down the president, can
run in an election. I ran three of them and didn’t get angry,” added the
former president and founder of the PT party.
Lula and
Greenwald continued to discuss corruption within Brazilian politics, the
right-wing media campaign against the left, and other social issues in
the country. Watch the full interview below.
Source: Telesur
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