Hybrid war in Brazil: the Lula case

Abstract

Since independence in 1822, Brazilian history has been a succession of coups or coup attempts. On all these occasions, what was at stake was the attempt, on the part of the ruling classes and middle-class sectors, of establishing legal-political control over the State and preventing access by the working class to greater participation in national income and to the benefits of economic development, as well as delivering the country’s wealth to foreign capital. In this context, the hybrid warfare against the country is conducted in defense of the interests of major international companies, such as the main oil companies, anxious to appropriate the Brazilian oil wealth. And one of the main instruments of this hybrid warfare is the so-called lawfare, that is, the use of legislation and the judicial system to persecute and destroy political opponents. This tactic was evident against President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, sentenced to 12 years and 1 month in prison and imprisoned on April 7, 2018. The objective was obvious: to prevent him from running for the presidential elections of 2018 and destroy the PT and all the left.