Former President Lula Will Confront Delicate Situation with Allies During Trip Around Northeast

08/17/2017 - 10h39

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CÁTIA SEABRA

FROM SÃO PAULO

Starting on Thursday the 17th, former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will begin to travel through territory marked by political tension.

Wanting to show strength after his condemnation and on the eve of new testimony before federal judge Sergio Moro, Lula left from Salvador on the start of a trip by caravan that will travel throughout the region, reaching Maranhão on September the 5th.

Although he leads on electoral polls in the Northeast, he will run into obstacles along the way.

Bahia, the disembarkation locale, is governed by Rui Costa, a PT Party Leader who privately defended maintaining Michel Temer in the Presidency to prevent the President of the House, Rodrigo Maia (DEM-RJ Party), from assuming the Presidency of the Republic.

Meanwhile in Alagoas, where the former president is scheduled to make a crossing of the São Francisco River by boat, calls for protests in the cities of Penedo and Arapiraca are already circulating on social networks.

In Ceará, Lula will face ill will regarding the close relationship between Governor Camilo Santana (PT Party) and the Cid and Ciro Gomes brothers, from the PDT Party.

In Maranhão, the difficulty will lie in accommodating Governor Flávio Dino (PC do B Party) and the Sarney family at the same event.

In Pernambuco, Governor Paulo Câmara (PSB Party) could turn out to be a positive stop for Lula on the route, although until now he has represented the greatest opposition to the PT Party in the State.

DORIA

In the same week that former president Lula is starting his caravan by bus through the Northeast, the Mayor of São Paulo, João Doria (PSDB Party), intensified his activities scheduled in the region.

The mayor, who was hit by eggs thrown during a protest in Salvador last week, was in Natal on Wednesday (the 16th) and has events scheduled in Fortaleza, Recife and Campina Grande (PB). On Monday (the 14th) he was in Palmas (TO) in the Northern region.

Doria's northern schedule includes receiving honorary citizenship titles and meetings with business associations.

Translated by LLOYD HARDER

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