Brasilia, June 8 (RHC)--The national launch of the pre-candidacy of the founder and historical leader of the Workers' Party (PT), Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to the upcoming presidential elections will be held Friday in the municipality of Contagem, metropolitan region of Belo Horizonte.

The ceremony will take place at 18:00 (local time) in a convention hotel in that town, the third most populated in the State of Minas Gerais.

Prensa Latina reports that during the ceremony, a message from the imprisoned former president will be released. Lula has been held for the last two months as a political prisoner at the Federal Police Headquarters (PF) in Curitiba.

In mid-May, Lula sent a letter to the PT's national president, Gleisi Hoffmann, in which he stated that if he accepted the idea of ​​not being a candidate, he would be assuming that he committed a crime, and he did not commit any.

Reportedly, Lula left a stock of pre-recorded videos for the presidential campaign in which he addresses, among other issues the defense of his legacy and innocence; the achievements of the PT government, with emphasis on social programs, and its judicial situation, which he considers unfair.

Opinion polls affirm that if allowed to run, Lula would easily win a second round runoff vote against several likely opponents and retake the presidency in October.