The Edge of Democracy (Democracia em Vertigem)

Careful there.

No one expected such a quick arrest.

It took everyone by surprise.

The deadline set for ex-president Lula to turn himself in has ended

to serve prison time for the triplex apartment charges...

He will not leave! He will not leave!

He will not leave! He will not leave!

He will not leave!

Where is he?

DILMA ROUSSEFF EX-PRESIDENT OF BRAZIL

Oh, my God.

Come on, no crying!

Hey, Luiza Erundina!

Look how strong she is.

- Bye. - Lula, I'm with you.

Lula in prison!

Lula in prison!

Out with PT (Workers' Party)!

Out with PT!

If that crook Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva stays free,

he'll lead the country into a civil war!

For now, there's no solution yet.

Many patrol cars,

many police vehicles are approaching.

Don't let them jail him!

Circle in, circle in Don't let them jail him!

ALVORADA PRESIDENTIAL RESIDENCE BRASÍLIA

Blow it. Blow it! Don't do it with your finger.

Look, Aninha!

- Blow it! Ana, like this. - Blow it, Petra.

Put on some fun music! Ana Petra loves it.

Four, five mille! We want to vote for president of Brazil!

- Direct elections! - Now!

- Direct elections! - Now!

I WANT TO VOTE FOR PRESIDENT

1979 STEELWORKERS UNION, SÃO PAULO

Our union is under siege.

We're being horribly oppressed!

Our union is surrounded by military trucks.

Lula! Lula!

We all know

that around the world,

workers never got anything...

without struggle, without perseverance,

and without fighting until the end.

...there's work to be done in neighborhoods,

there's work to be done at bus stops,

and more importantly,

no one goes to the factory doors!

Lula! Lula!

We're thinking

of creating a political party

to see if the workers, at least somewhere in the world,

get the chance to be represented with dignity.

Runs for president in '89...

To end inflation,

we'll have to attack it at its roots

and that's the bankers,

the businessmen.

For the low paid worker, the priority is a pay raise.

It's time for a government that guarantees economic stability

supporting all who want to plant, produce and create jobs.

To say also to the businessmen

that Brazil really needs them.

Marília's giving Petra instructions.

- Her daughter's political education. - We're choosing a woman for Congress.

- Bye. - Bye.

Brazil gained wealth from the mills

and sugarcane plantations

in early colonial times.

But it didn't beat hunger.

It declared its independence and abolished slavery,

but it didn't beat hunger.

It knew wealth from gold mines in Minas Gerais

and coffee plantations in the Paraíba Valley,

but it didn't beat hunger.

It became industrialized...

While there's a single Brazilian

suffering from hunger,

we have plenty of reason

to feel shame.

We're starting today

a new chapter in Brazil's history.

Not as a submissive nation,

giving up its sovereignty;

not as an unfair nation,

passively watching the suffering of the poor;

JANUARY 1, 2003

but as a proud, noble nation,

bravely affirming itself in the world,

as a nation of all its people,

with no distinction of class, ethnic background, sex or creed.

Today is the day

Brazil encounters itself again.

Lula! Lula!

The first thing he did

was put food on the table of the poor worker,

the small farmer...

I've two daughters in college,

thanks to government programs.

The current government is prioritizing "racist" quotas

against white people in our country.

We've arrived at the end...of everything.

He was a big letdown. He was of the working class

and could've made this country way better.

He did a good job at first...

then got lost to the corruption that...

rules this country.

Today I have a home.

My sister got her nursing degree,

my daughter's doing nutrition.

We needed the Bolsa Família program,

and thanks to it, we've advanced.

We're off the Bolsa now, but we got better because of it.

I love this man from my heart.

And now we've the chance to talk with a special guest.

The economist who started young,

working first as Municipal Secretary,

then as State Secretary,

Minister of Energy, Chief of Staff...

I brought Dilma here so she can smile for you.

The art of resisting torture lies in thinking,

"It's just one more minute."

If you think it'll be five

or 20, it's too hard to bear.

So you think, "One more minute, two..."

and keep tricking yourself on and on

trying to overcome

what's inherently human, which is pain.

There's already an 11% difference.

DILMA ROUSSEFF ELECTED BRAZIL'S FIRST FEMALE PRESIDENT

They just announced that Dilma was elected president!

Our President.

Wait, our President's here!

Eh, President...you invented this!

7 YEARS LATER

Mom, how did you feel when she was elected

or chosen?

I felt...

like I identified.

More and more as...

she's a woman, from my state, a militant...

We went to the same schools, but at different times.

We were both imprisoned in the same jail,

I for a shorter time, of course.

And mostly,

she was there, for me,

bearing the brunt of it all.

It's okay, I managed to turn it on.

- Yes, before. - I was arrested later.

- Then I went... - You were arrested...

- Around Ibiúna. - You were arrested in '68.

- Because of the Student Congress. - Was it '68?

- Yes, in October. - Right.

- I was arrested in January, in 1970. - January '70.

Certain things for me are very difficult.

What happens is

that one can never...

be completely anonymous...

again.

There's a huge freedom in being anonymous.

Immense.

Which we had when we were in hiding.

That's the thing.

The immense feeling of freedom, which I never had again.

- For a short time. - For a short time.

Yes, but it's immense, isn't it?

When did you realize Lula was choosing you?

No, I didn't want that!

It's my...

attachment...

to freedom.

But this was very well known.

And he insisted on it?

He doesn't speak.

He does politics as a fait accompli. That's Lula.

Today he talks more.

Hey, Mr. President, Mrs. Marisa.

The last time we go out of the elevator.

Saying bye to the Palace

and going home, to my apartment

in S. Bernardo do Campo.

Once a first lady, always a first lady.

I'll take a picture of you.

Take one of yourself.

Dilma! Dilma!

Power to the people Power to the people

To make a new world!

The people united! No political parties here!

The people united No political parties here!

The people united! No political parties here!

Democracy! Democracy!

It's unacceptable that Brazil,

with one of the most solid, profitable economic systems,

has one of the highest interest rates in the world.

The financial sector has no means

of explaining this perverse logic.

Research polls revealed that Dilma's popularity dropped by 27 points

in these three weeks of protests

We are in desperate need