Brazil Lawmaker, Ex-Kidnapper, Leaves Lula's Party
Date: 09-Oct-03
Country: BRAZIL
Fernando Gabeira, a member of the lower house of Congress from Rio de Janeiro state, said he would officially leave the Workers' Party next week to protest what he saw as President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's poor environmental record.
Gabeira gained notoriety in 1969 as part of a left-wing guerrilla group that kidnapped U.S. Ambassador Charles Elbrick in Rio de Janeiro. After four days, Elbrick was released unharmed after Brazil's military government gave in to the guerrillas' demands and freed 15 imprisoned revolutionaries.
Gabeira's autobiographical book of the account was later turned into 1997's Oscar-nominated movie "Four Days in September."
After being imprisoned and exiled, he returned to Brazil in 1979 and became a leader in the counterculture and environmental movements.
Gabeira, a former Green Party member, was especially critical of the government's recent decision to allow limited planting of genetically modified soybeans and possibly build a third nuclear power plant.
"Environmental policy is not coherent with the government's program," Gabeira said. He said he was unsure if he would return to the Green Party or become an independent.
A small number of Workers' Party lawmakers have become loud critics of Lula's government for doing too little on promised social policies and adopting tough budget cuts and high interest rates to control inflation.
