Lula is accompanied by the former governor of São Paulo, Geraldo Alckmin, designated as vice-presidential candidate, and Saturday's event is part of his tour of Brazil. Jul. 09, 2022.   | Photo: @LulaOficial

Sao Paulo, July 10 (RHC)-- Former president and current candidate for the Together for Brazil coalition, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, headed on Saturday an electoral pre-campaign event in Sao Paulo, whose central theme was the defense of democracy and the fight against hunger, two of the axes of the government program promoted by the leftist leader.

Lula was accompanied by the former governor of São Paulo, Geraldo Alckmin, designated as vice-presidential candidate, and Saturday's event was part of his tour of Brazil to strengthen the national reconstruction movement Vamos Juntos pelo Brasil, with which they will run in the October 2022 elections.

This event takes place after visiting Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday and Thursday and is attended by the city's mayor, José de Filippi Júnior, historic leader of the Workers' Party (PT).

"I have four years of my life to dedicate myself to taking care of the people.  I want to establish a sister relationship with governors and mayors.  It is not possible for a country to succeed with a ruler encouraging fights.  I will show that it is possible for Brazil to be happy again."

In his speech, the former president pointed out that his "history is confused with the history of Diadema.  I came for the first time in 1969.  The only paved street was Av. Antonio Piranga.  This city was the first to have the courage to elect a metallurgist mayor."

Lula also denounced that "the country is worse than in 2003," when he became President for the first time and pointed out that "inflation and unemployment are higher.  The union categories are making deals below inflation.  And our solution is to put the poor in the budget and the rich in the income tax."

In the same vein, the former president pointed out that "after the Workers' Party put an end to hunger in the country, now 33 million Brazilians go to sleep without eating" and asked: "How can this be explained in a country that is the third largest food producer in the world?"

He also criticized the policies developed by the current president and candidate for reelection, Jair Bolsonaro, and blamed him for the current crisis that the South American giant is experiencing.

Lula, according to polls, is the favorite to win the presidential elections next October's presidential elections.