“The United Nations should have already called for an extraordinary general assembly, a virtual assembly, to discuss Covid 19,” he told Amanpour, speaking from Sao Paulo, Brazil.
“Rulers are not acting like rulers,” he added. “Everyone is thinking by themselves.”
Da Silva also said that the G20 should make coronavirus vaccines immediately accessible across the world, and allow poorer countries to pay for them at a later date. “People, regardless of the amount of money that the country may have…could receive the vaccines… we would pay back [for] that vaccine after we end with the virus, after we win that war.”
‘I will not deny that invitation’
“When it comes to the moment to run for the elections, and if my party and the other allied parties understand that I could be the candidate, and if I’m well in my health, with the energy and power that I have today, I can reassure you that I will not deny that invitation,” the 75-year-old said.
He also said he was inspired by Joe Biden’s successful presidential campaign. “When I saw Biden being elected, I thought, he’s 77! I’m still 75 and I say every day that I have 75 years of age, but the energy and power of 30.”
Da Silva was released from prison in 2019. Ruling to annul his convictions last week, Supreme Court Justice Edson Fachin said the Curitiba city court that convicted him had acted outside its jurisdiction. Fachin ordered a retrial in the Federal Court of Brasilia.
In his interview with Amanpour, Da Silva called his case “the greatest judicial farce in the history of 500 years of Brazil.” He would have “no issue” with being tried or judged again, he added. “There’s only one Brazilian that in this moment wants to know the truth and only the truth: It’s me.”
Whoever runs, the former president said the pandemic-stricken country could not continue with Bolsonaro at the helm. “We need to call to elect, or re-elect, someone that has the mindset that is different from Bolsonaro.”
Da Silva savaged the efforts of the current administration to contain the outbreak, saying “there is no control in Brazil.” He described lockdowns as “necessary” — something that Bolsonaro has frequently rejected — and unfavorably compared the country’s current coronavirus strategy to that of former US President Donald Trump, saying “here in Brazil and also in the US with President Trump, the lack of responsibility was tremendous.”
“[Bolsonaro] prefers to wake up at 4 o’clock in the morning, tell his lies through his mobile phone, through the social media, and we have been producing fake news as we’ve never seen in the history of Brazil, and he’s not dealing seriously,” da Silva said.
Da Silva also said Bolsonaro should have “put aside money for health care and a part of our budget to fund small and medium sized enterprises, and part of the money to investments in infrastructure works that could create jobs”
Bolsonaro has previously accused da Silva’s criticism of being politically motivated, and defended his management of the coronavirus pandemic, saying that local officials were empowered to take necessary containment measures and that he was acting in citizens’ economic interests.
As CNN has reported, some members of the Brazilian public have failed to embrace social distancing measures, following an example set by the current President. In a message for Brazilians, da Silva implored them to stay at home “for the sake of humanity and of the nation.”
“We cannot allow that a citizen… thinks that he has the right to go out without masks to the streets, to go to gatherings and party without taking [into] account that he can go back at home, too, with the virus and transmit it to the mother, father and grandmother.”
