Lula: the defense of democracy is the struggle of the oppressed in L.America

Although not present
at the 22nd meeting of the Forum of São Paulo in El Salvador, Luiz
Inácio Lula da Silva thanked, through a video message, the support
of social movements and progressive parties against the attempts to
illegally oust Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff from office and
exhorted the delegates to continue to struggle for democracy, which is essential for Latin America to continue on its path of
social development.

In line with the final statement of the forum , which as held from June 23 to June 26,
Lula reiterated that the people of Latina America must resist the
attempts in Brazil and in other countries in the region to roll back
recent conquests which led to an improvement of the lives of the
majority of the population.

“The conservative
and anti-popular forces are trying to consolidate a Coup d’Etat [here
in Brazil]… they are trying hard to destroy the social advances,
sell public goods and destroy the solidarity that we built between
our sister nations,” Lula points out in his message.

The Forum of São
Paulo, which was founded by the region’s progressive parties in 1990,
has helped consolidate policies in favor of regional integration,
solidarity between the nations in the Americas and promote policies
that, according to Lula, changed the Latin America economically,
politically and socially in ways that nobody thought was possible.

Nevertheless, Lula
stressed that democracy, and its defense, is essential to ensure that
the social gains made over the last decade are not destroyed and for
the lives of ordinary people in the region to continue to advance.

“[The defense of
democracy] is a cause of the poor, of the humble, of the workers, of
women, of indigenous populations and black people, of all that have
for centuries been exploited and oppressed in our countries and in
our continent. It’s the struggle of all who, in the last decade,
raised and conquered their voices,” he said.

To watch the Lula’s full message on his Feacebook page, click here .