Honorable Members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee.

I write to you because I read in the Brazilian Press that Mr. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, former President of Brazil, is visiting foreign Heads of State and of Government to obtain their support for his nomination to the Nobel Peace Prize.

I, together with many other Brazilians, would be ashamed if Mr. Da Silva ever receives a Nobel Peace Prize.

On our view, he did nothing, in his whole life, to promote peace in the world. What he really did, as manager of the country’s budget, was to distribute to friends and poor voters the Brazilian tax payers money, in order to gain national recognition in coming elections and to achieve international notoriety, which was also a result also of a PA program paid by the Brazilian people. Unfortunately the Brazilian poor remain poor after 10 years of this forced charity because Mr. Da Silva did not implement any government program to permanently change their lives. In contrary, he left the Brazilian economy in a turmoil.

On the other hand, during the eight years of his presidential term, he is suspect of leading the most intricate corruption scheme ever practiced in Brazil. For instance, eight of his Ministers, whom he asked the newly elected President to maintain in their positions, were fired on accusations of corruption; the Supreme Court has just sentenced his then closest Minister to 11 years in jail for corruption, together with prominent members of Mr. Da Silva political party, the Partido dos Trabalhadores (PT) and businessmen of their relations; and, according to the Brazilian Press, the Police have just found out that his 12 year personal secretary, Mrs Noronha, who accompanied him in no less than 25 international trips during his Presidency – she had the privilege, when Mrs. Da Silva was not present, of travelling in his personal cabin on the Presidential plane and of occupying the hotel room adjacent to his – was the leader of a network of corruption that spread throughout Mr. Da Silva´s administration.

As you can see, it is not only the Brazilians who will be ashamed to see a Brazilian man like Mr. Da Silva be a recipient of a so internationally prestigious prize as the Nobel Peace Prize. It will be a stain on The Norwegian Nobel Committee reputation, that, for sure, will be questioned by the worldwide press for attributing such an honor to a man so involved in corruption and who contributed so much to the misuse of public money in Brazil.

I remain at your disposal to translate and send you press articles that mention Mr. Da Silva.

My best regards,

Sergio Moura

Businessman, lawyer, journalist