Da Silva to be running for Brazilian presidency

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Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the leftist Brazilian ex-president, will be launching his presidential election campaign on Saturday. He is eyeing the seat to replace the far-right Jair Bolsonaro. Da Silva's election would stage a remarkable return to political life after being jailed for corruption for 4 years.

Da Silva left the office as the most popular president in Brazilian history - his return to elections does not come as a surprise, though his lead in the polls has shrunk.

Since March last year, Da Silva was unofficially declared as running for election, particularly when the Supreme Court annulled corruption convictions that had banished him from political life. 

Two days later after the annulment, he slammed Bolsonaro's policies, and asserted that he still feels "young enough to fight."

The Supreme Court found bias in Da Silva's court case which got him arrested. Sergio Moro, the judge at the time, who turned out to be Bolsonaro's minister of justice, had caused political discord between Lula and Bolsonaro. 

"In truth, I never gave up," Lula told Time magazine. "Politics lives in every cell of my body, because I have a cause. And in the 12 years since I left office, I see that all the policies I created to benefit the poor have been destroyed." 

Lula, between the years 2003 and 2010, left with an approval rating of 87%, especially since he lead an economic boom that lifted around 30 million Brazilians out of poverty.

At one point, Lula looked set to beat Bolsonaro in the first-round vote on October 2, without needing a runoff on October 30.  

Brazil's Lula blames Ukraine war equally on Zelensky, Putin

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin are equally responsible for the war in Ukraine, former Brazillian President and current presidential frontrunner Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva had told Time in an article published on Wednesday, putting the former official at odds with the West who are trying to paint Moscow as the one to blame.

"I see the president of Ukraine, speaking on television, being applauded, getting a standing ovation by all the (European) parliamentarians," Brazil's president from 2003 to 2010 told the Time, which published a story on his attempt at becoming President again against far-right President Jair Bolsonaro.

"[Zelensky] is as responsible as Putin for the war," the leftist icon added.

His remarks will likely be met with dismay from the West as a whole as it pumps more and more arms into Ukraine in light of heavy sanctions on Russia over the war that the US and Europe see as an act of "unprovoked Russian aggression".

Lula stressed that Zelensky should have taken the diplomatic route with Russia, which opposed Ukraine's moves to join NATO, and held discussions with Moscow to avoid a conflict with his eastern neighbor.

"We should be having a serious conversation. OK, you were a nice comedian. But let us not make war for you to show up on TV," he said in a jab at Zelensky, who rose to fame due to being an actor and comedian.

He also took a jab at US President Joe Biden.

"Biden could have taken a plane to Moscow to talk to Putin. This is the kind of attitude you expect from a leader," he said.