Chomsky to Brazil: Follow Lula’s Ideas to Be Southern Colossus

“I was very pleased to see that he continues to be animated, energetic, full of plans and programs, and optimistic about the future,” said the left-wing MIT professor. 

21 September 2018

On Thursday, famous linguist and philosopher Noam Chomsky visited former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who, he said, is “optimistic about the future.”

Chomsky made the remark during a press conference in Curitiba, following a visit with Lula. “It was a wonderful experience, not every day [one meets] an extraordinary figure of the 21st century [who] by right should be the next president of Brazil,” said at a Free Lula vigil.

“I was very pleased to see that he continues to be animated, energetic, full of plans and programs and optimistic about the future,” the famous left-wing activist and professor at the Massachusets Institute of Technology (MIT) said.

During Thursday’s press conference, a message from Lula to the Workers Party (PT) regarding the organization’s activism was made. Lula suggested that the PT has to promote talk of peace throughout the country, to show that Brazil’s problems will be solved with schools, museums, jobs and opportunities for the people, and not by violence and authoritarianism.

Chomsky also highlighted the importance of the October elections, saying that “this period can bring about a permanent decline, or transform Brazil into the ‘southern colossus’ that was predicted 100 years ago and began to happen under Lula’s leadership. So: Free Lula!”

Fernando Haddad, the presidential candidate for the PT who replaced Lula, has widened his support by three points since the last presidential Ibope poll surveys were conducted for the election, scheduled for Oct. 7.

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Published at https://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Chomsky-to-Brazil-Follow-Lulas-Ideas-to-Be-Southern-Colossus-20180921-0006.html