April 10, 2018 Vista Alegre, Enéas Marques, Paraná

Good afternoon, my friend Lula. I am writing this letter today with a heart broken from emotion. My friend Lula, I am 80 years old and I have children, grandchildren, greatgrandchildren, and I've been married for 59 years to my husband, but I am very sad and upset with what has happened to you. Anyone who doesn't know what a triplex is, for which you were convicted, must think it's worth as much as half of Brazil. We are very sad over what is happening to an imprisoned ex-president who did so much for the poor and Brazil overall. There is one person here who says that when Lula was president we had a little piece of meat on the weekend and not just miúdo de galinha, and another person told me that before Lula they had a wagon and a wheelbarrow but now they have a tractor and were able to expand their plantation and buy a car to go to church and go for a drive. The pain comes not just from that but also from the anguish that we see on television.

Lula, those steps you took down the stairs from the helicopter in Curitiba was so humiliating that I cried and said those security guards will transform into angels when you go up, not down the stairs to prison, but up to Heaven. Lula, I am crying. I will never forget those stairs. I am sorry, I am almost illiterate but I always respected politicians. Courage Lula, stay calm and be with God.

Kiss from a mother,