Criticising the pandemic response from incumbent Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, former
president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Friday said that the over 300,000 COVID-19 deaths “amounts to the biggest genocide the country has ever witnessed.”

“3158 people died in Brazil on Tuesday. It is the biggest genocide in the history of our country,” Lula told German weekly Der Spiegel adding that the current president has lied to the Brazilian people about the pandemic, AFP reported.

Also Read: Brazil breaches daily tally 100,000 of COVID-19 cases

“There’s an urgent
need to save this country from COVID-19,” Lula said, adding that Brazil will not
withstand if “this man”  continuous to
govern the way he is doing. She was referring to the current president.

The former president also asked Bolsonaro to apologise to the families who have lost their loved ones to COVID-19.

Meanwhile, Brazil has witnessed a record surge in virus cases in the country due to the local variant, known to be more contagious than the original one.

Also Read: Brazil to give first vaccine dose to as many as possible amid COVID-19 surge

Brazil witnessed a period of economic boom from the year 2003-2010 during Lula’s presidency as the head of the left-wing Workers’ Party. After that, the 75-year old was sentenced to 26 years in prison in 2017 on the charges of accepting bribes.

The corruption charges against him, however, were annulled earlier this month post which opinion polls suggest him to be the best leader so far to challenge the incumbent president next year during the unprecedented crisis.