Lula was the president of Brasil from 2003 to the end of 2010. During those years 29 million people were assisted into the middle class through government programs and educational initiatives. He did amazing things with the Brasilian economy and helped his entire country to a better life. Barack Obama once said, "I love this guy!" and Tony Blair called Lula one of the most remarkable leaders of our age. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-11458409
So Lula decided to run for the office of presidency again. Now he has been arrested. He was charged with (accused of) illegally accepting a million dollar piece of property he has never lived in and for which there is zero proof that he accepted.
Basically, Lula seems to be an innocent man who helped millions of people, and he is probably now the victim of dirty politics. Certain folks in Brasil did not want Lula to run again, and so they threw him in jail.
In the following article you can read how his own supporters tried to stop him from surrendering to the police.
An article about his arrest: http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/brazils-lula-creates-standoff-defiance-prison-order-54301463
Vocabulary from the article:
tense - scary, threatening, causing one to be afraid
a showdown - when two people or groups face each other in some type of conflict, a confrontation
to be in custody - the police has taken control of him and have taken away his freedom
capping - ending
intense - strong
underscored - highlighted, revealed, strongly showed
raw emotions - emotions that people can't control, that just come out strongly
the incarceration of - throwing a person into jail
engulfed by - literally: eaten by, surrounded by, overcome by
corruption - acting in a dishonest manner, not acting properly in regard to one's position so that money is stolen or jobs are not done properly
a conviction - to be found guilty
to be holed up in - to be hiding safely in
clashes - fights
scores - a score is a dozen people (12)
a whirlwind of events - a lot of events going by quickly
a petition - a document asking for something
to appeal his conviction - he was found guilty by a lower court but he 'appealed' to a higher court (asked the higher court) to overturn or get rid of the guilty verdict (conviction). He wanted to remain free while the higher court considered the appeal. The lower court would not allow him to remain free.
Car Wash cases - many instances of corruption have been investigated in Brasil and the whole group of cases or incidents are being called 'the car wash cases'. I am not sure why.
an arrest warrant - a document giving the police the authority to arrest a person; such a warrant is usually given by a judge
a 12 year sentence - a sentence is a period of time a person must remain in prison
to hunker down - to establish oneself more firmly in a place. e.g. I need to hunker down and study for this test! or: You are experiencing a lot of bad luck lately, but don't worry, hunker down and things will get better.
improbable - unlikely, not expected
prosecutors - lawyers for the government who try to throw people in jail
to take refuge - to go to a safe place
trajectory - his path to the top, a trajectory is the path that a rocket or some other objecttakes as it rises (and sometimes falls)
allegations - complaints
trading favors - giving something to get something
to be upheld - to be confirmed, to be found to be right
colossal - huge, gigantic
a fall from grace - to go from a great, amazing place to a lousy, bad, rotten place
against steep odds - despite huge chances against him; to do something against the odds means few people have done it before. e,g. I come from a poor and working-class family and against steep (difficult) odds I was able to go to an Ivy League school. Odds are chances of success. If you are definitely going to win something, you have 1-1 odds. If you are probably not going to be able to do something, but there is still a chance, your odds might be 50-1 or 100-1 or if you really will have a hard time doing something 1,000 - 1 etc.
a booming economy - an economy that kept increasing
abject - hopeless
hardscrabble - something difficult, something requiring struggle to survive
to rise through the ranks - to start at the bottom of an organization and to keep getting higher and higher jobs
a union - an organization of workers
a strike - when workers refuse to work until they receive a better salary or working conditions
to be polarized - most people are on one side or the other (we have a North Pole and a South Pole)
to be behind bars - to be in jail
detractors - people against someone or something
impunity - to do something wrong and to get away with it
to disqualify someone - to make it impossible for a person to do something because he/she is not "qualified" or does not meet the standards or criteria
to be ensnared - to be caught
a scandal - a situation in which famous or powerful people have been exposed or revealed to have been doing something wrong
the elite - the very famous, the very powerful, the few people who have become well-known
an illegal scheme - an illegal plan to make money secretly
a cartel - an illegal organization
to dole out - to hand out, to deliver
inflated - larger than normal
a kickback - I help you make money and you send some of this money to me. e.g. You own a construction company and I have power in government. We need to hire a construction company to build a road. So, I tell you, give me an inflated figure for the construction of this road. I will make sure the government pays you this amount. You then kick some of that money back to me.
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