Brasilia, August 19 (RHC)-- The former President of Brazil and founder of the Workers Party, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva embarked on the “Caravan of Hope” tour which will take him through nine states and 25 cities in Northern Brazil. The caravan's first stop is in Salvador, and will continue until the last stop in Sao Luis do Maranhao on September 5th.

According to Marcio Macedo, who is the current Workers Party Vice President and the coordinator of the caravan, the journey will have the dual aim of meeting with mayors, governors, and officials in the region, as well as identifying the legacy of the Lula and Dilma Workers Party government, and identify needs and struggles that have set in as a result of the unelected Michel Temer government. The project looks to both stimulate resistance, and formulate future strategy.

“Both the Workers Party and Lula are imbued with the desire to bring a little hope to the Brazilian people, showing that it is possible to reconstruct a national project overcoming hatred and intolerance,” Macedo said.

Sao Paulo Mayor Fernando Haddad spoke on the need for the Workers Party to formulate a strategy in close coordination with the needs of the people. “It cannot be bureaucratic. There must be more caution, more humility, and to process everything with generosity, including to incorporate the criticism that arises from the people, the workers, and to take note of the errors they point out,” Haddad said.

For many long-time observers, the Caravan of Hope is an effort to echo and recall Lula and the Worker's Party's origins, when Lula began the Caravan of Citizenship in 1992 to help construct the social programs that defined his government.

Lula was recently charged with alleged corruption, and handed a nine-and-a-half year prison sentence. In spite of this, he is the highest polling candidate for the upcoming 2018 presidential elections. Both he, his lawyers and his supporters, have repeatedly argued that the accusations against him are fabricated and part of a campaign to prevent him running again for president in the elections.