Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has formally launched his bid for a fourth term, presenting an 84-page electoral program centered on defending national sovereignty, reducing inequality, and combating organized crime, according to telesurenglish.net.
The program, released two months before the elections, highlights the achievements of Lula’s government over the past four years and proposes continuing his policies. ‘We did a lot and it is necessary to do even more,’ states the document, titled ‘Guidelines for the program of transformation of Brazil: a sovereign, democratic, developed, sustainable, and creative country,’ before detailing its 13 thematic chapters.
On international politics, the program promises ‘firm opposition to any attempt to subordinate Brazil to foreign interests’ — a veiled reference to pressures from Donald Trump’s US to influence internal affairs in Latin America. It advocates deepening ‘geopolitical rapprochement’ with the BRICS and the global South, as well as regional integration within Mercosur.
The program also emphasizes the importance of the Armed Forces having an adequate budget to protect the country and its natural resources from ‘external threats,’ aiming to strengthen industrial production oriented towards the defense sector.
At the national level, special attention is given to security, one of the issues that most concerns citizens and the main battleground for Lula’s biggest rival, right-winger Flávio Bolsonaro. Confronting organized crime requires, according to the program, improving cooperation between different levels of public administration, ‘expanding the scope of action’ of the Federal Police, and establishing ‘more agile procedures’ to punish members of factions.
The candidacy remains focused on combating femicide and proposes, for example, the creation of new shelters for women victims of gender violence. In social policy, the program aims to reduce inequalities through an increase in the minimum wage and Bolsa Familia, the aid program for the poorest that Lula created more than two decades ago.
The announcement was made at the national convention of Brazil’s Workers’ Party (PT) in Sao Paulo, where Lula appeared alongside his wife Rosângela ‘Janja’ da Silva, Vice President Geraldo Alckmin, and his wife Lu Alckmin.
Lula’s coalition presents this program as a continuation of his transformative agenda, positioning Brazil as a sovereign and independent actor on the global stage. With the elections approaching, the program sets out a clear vision for a fourth term, promising strength, sovereignty, security, and equality.