The president (PT) defended this Saturday (18), in São Bernardo do Campo, in front of an audience of high school students, that the country increase spending on education, even though he knows that “Faria Lima is going to fight with us”.
The PT member also stated that he wants to create a doctrine of Latin American education so that “never again will a president from another country dare to speak rudely to Brazil”, in an indirect reference to the president of the United States, Donald Trump.
In his speech, Lula said that the country’s historical inequality gave fewer opportunities to women, black people and indigenous people and focused part of his speeches on this group, especially women, saying that education leads to increased income and that financial independence can keep girls away from abusive companions.
Lula defended the universalization of the Pé-de-Meia program, which provides transfers to high school students as a way of combating school dropouts, and criticized the country’s financial elite.
“There is one student who receives the Nest Egg and another [na mesma classe] who doesn’t receive it. And the salary difference is 50 cents, it’s 100 cents. So, we have to approve the universalization of the Nest Egg so that everyone can have the right to study”, he said.
“It’s difficult, Faria Lima will fight with us, the banker will complain. ‘Wow, this government is spending R$13.8 billion on Pé-de-Meia. It could be here in Faria Lima so we can make more money'”, he stated.
In another part of the speech, however, Lula said that he did not want to “harm anyone”, in a new reference to the elites.
“I don’t want to harm anyone, but I want the maid’s daughter to be able to take the Enem alongside her boss’s son.”
The president, who is expected to run for re-election next year, has seen his popularity ratings, which were falling, rise in recent months, especially after the tariff imposed in retaliation for the trial of Jair Bolsonaro (PL).
In the speech, he did not mention the North American directly, but defended Brazil’s independence.
“We want to form a Latin American doctrine, with Latin American teachers, Latin American students, so that we can dream that this continent will be independent and that never again will a president from another country dare to speak rudely to Brazil. It’s not a question of courage, it’s a question of dignity and character”, he said.
In his speech, the president sought to motivate young people to enter politics and made implicit criticisms of Congress and the approval, by the Chamber, of the Blindagem PEC, last month.
“Don’t be discouraged. When you see that the political class is wanting to pass a law that guarantees impunity for thief, don’t give up. Get into politics, because the good politician is within you,” said Lula.
“The misfortune of those who don’t like politicians is that they are governed by those who like them. And, if those who like them are a piece of junk, you will be governed by a piece of junk. Don’t put the fox in charge of the henhouse,” he said in another excerpt.
The president was in São Bernardo, his electoral birthplace, for the CPOP (Rede de Cursinhos Populares) meeting, aimed at preparing students for the entrance exam, at the city’s multi-sports gym. Ministers Camilo Santana (Education) and Fernando Haddad (Finance) also participated in the event.
At the event, the Minister of Education stated that the government will increase the number of popular courses supported by the program to 500 (currently there are 384) next year, when Lula will seek re-election.
