Brazil's election frontrunner and controversial leftist icon Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was negotiating the terms of his arrest for corruption Saturday while remaining holed up with crowds of fervent supporters near Sao Paulo.

Lula, a two-time former president who is hated and loved in Brazil by equal measure, had been told to surrender on Friday to start serving a 12 year prison term.

But the 72-year-old defiantly let the deadline pass, taking refuge in the metalworkers' union building in his hometown of Sao Bernardo do Campo, surrounded by several thousand supporters.

This raised the temperature in the standoff between Lula and Judge Sergio Moro, who heads Brazil's mammoth "Car Wash" anti-graft probe and who ordered the arrest.

Nevertheless, both sides backed away from outright confrontation, given that taking Lula by force would certainly provoke violent resistance from his backers.

Authorities took pains to reduce tensions, stressing that Lula was not considered a fugitive -- something that would trigger a preventative arrest warrant.

"Lula did not comply with a judicial order," a spokesman for Moro told AFP, "but everyone knows where he is. He's not hiding or on the run."

Politicians from Lula's Workers' Party said his lawyers were negotiating.

"There is a discussion between police and the ex-president's lawyers and the party is following this. The idea is to avoid the judge ordering preventative arrest, which would aggravate the situation," said Congressman Carlos Zarattini.

"Nothing is over yet."

A Catholic Mass was due to take place at the union building early Saturday in memory of Lula's late wife Marisa Leticia, who died last year and would now be turning 68, Workers' Party officials said.

According to varying Brazilian media reports, Lula was considering surrendering after the Mass or possibly trying to hold out through the weekend.

Meanwhile, Lula's lawyers appealed for an injunction against his arrest late Friday in the Supreme Court. A similar appeal at another court failed earlier in the day.

Lula was convicted last year of taking a luxury apartment as a kickback from a big construction company. He lost a lower court appeal in January and saw his sentence increased from nine to 12 years.

To his Workers' Party faithful, Lula is a victim of an out-of-control judiciary preventing him from returning to power.

They remember him for a 2003-2010 presidency that saw tens of millions lifted from poverty and Brazil rise on the world stage.

"Lula is innocent, Lula for president!" supporters chanted outside the union building.

Renata Swiecik, an unemployed mother of four who had joined the crowd, urged Lula not to hand himself over.

"We are here to resist to the end. Lula will not be a prisoner in 2018, he'll be president and help the people once more," said Swiecik, 31.

However, Lula's imminent arrest is being celebrated by many Brazilians.

The "Car Wash" probe, which has revealed systemic, high-level embezzlement and bribery throughout business and politics over the last four years, is wildly popular.

Detractors say that Lula epitomizes Brazil's corruption-riddled elite and his conviction is the biggest "Car Wash" scalp by far.

"I want Lula in prison, I want a better future and with him in the leadership we won't have that," said Maura Moraes de Oliveira, 51, who works as a maid in Curitiba.

"Not only Lula should be locked up, but all the corrupt, a complete cleaning."

Operation "Car Wash" was named after the service station where agents initially investigated a minor money laundering scheme in 2014, before realizing that they'd stumbled on a gargantuan web of embezzlement and bribery at state oil company Petrobras and right through the political classes.

Lula, who grew up poor and with little formal education before becoming a trade union leader and politician, has long said he will go down fighting.

In theory, once someone has been convicted and lost a lower court appeal, he or she is barred from running for office under Brazil's clean-slate law.

Still, even in prison, Lula has the right to register as a candidate. It would then be up to the Superior Electoral Tribunal to rule on whether his candidacy could stand.

Although Lula would almost certainly be blocked, he could use the process to maintain his political influence.</s>Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was spending his first night in jail, a stunning fall from grace for a man who rose from nothing to lead Latin America’s largest nation and later became engulfed in corruption allegations.

Foreshadowing possible clashes in the weeks to come, police shot rubber bullets and sprayed tear gas late Saturday at supporters waiting for da Silva as he landed in a police helicopter in the southern city of Curitiba, where he will serve his 12-year sentence for money laundering and corruption.

Just a few hours before that, da Silva had to have guards push their way out of a metal workers union in a Sao Paulo suburb so he could turn himself in to police; supporters were trying to keep him from going into custody.

Read | Lula behind bars in Brazil: A deathblow for Latin America’s left?

Speaking to thousands of supporters at the union that was the spiritual birthplace of da Silva’s rise to prominence, the former leader said would turn himself in so as to continue fighting a corruption conviction that he said amounted to a way for enemies to make sure he doesn’t run — and possibly win — re-election in October.

When he first tried to leave the metal workers union headquarters, however, dozens of supporters blocked a gate where a car carrying da Silva was trying to exit.

“Surround, surround (the building) and don’t let them arrest him,” chanted supporters. After a few minutes of tense words between guards and supporters, the former president got out of the car and entered the headquarters.

Police vehicles surrounded the union, raising the fears of clashes. Da Silva emerged a second time shortly after nightfall, this time surrounded by bodyguards who pushed back scores of supporters who tried to stop his advance.

Such dramatic scenes throughout the day underscored the drama that has rapt a nation deeply divided on da Silva’s legacy and whether he is guilty of corruption. The latest developments began when the Supreme Federal Tribunal, the country’s top court, ruled against his petition on Thursday to remain free while he continued to appeal his conviction.

Judge Sergio Moro, who oversees many of the so-called “Car Wash” cases, then ordered an arrest warrant for da Silva, giving him until 5 pm Friday to present himself to police in Curitiba, about 417 kilometers southwest of Sao Bernardo do Campo, and begin serving his 12-year sentence.

Da Silva, who Brazilians simply call “Lula,” did no such thing. Instead, he hunkered down with supporters in the union headquarters.

“The police and ‘Car Wash’ investigators lied. The prosecutors lied,” said da Silva, as a few thousand supporters cheered.

“I don’t forgive them for giving society the idea that I am a thief,” he continued.

Still, da Silva said he would turn himself in “to go there and face them eye to eye. The more days they leave me (in jail), the more Lulas will be born in this country.”

While da Silva spoke, some people cried while others chanted “Free Lula!” When he finished speaking, a sea of supporters carried him on their shoulders back into the building.

Mauricio Santoro, a political science professor at the State University of Rio de Janeiro, said that by not complying with the order on Friday da Silva “wanted to demonstrate strength and popularity, showing that he is a political leader capable of gathering a crowd in his support”.

Choosing the metal workers union to take refuge, and not the Workers’ Party headquarters, was also significant, said Santoro.

“It shows that he wants to emphasize his trajectory as leader of a social movement, rather than his role as leader of a party marked by allegations of corruption,” he said.

In an emotional hourlong speech before his arrest, Lula called himself “an outraged citizen” over the graft conviction.

He said that Brazil’s top anti-corruption judge, Sergio Moro, “lied” about him being given the apartment by a big construction firm as a kickback.

“I am the only human being to be put on trial for an apartment that does not belong to me,” he said.

Lula accused the judiciary and Brazil’s most powerful media conglomerate of assisting a right-wing coup with the ultimate aim of preventing him from competing in the race.

“They don’t want me to take part,” he said. “Their obsession is to get a photo of Lula as a prisoner.”

But, crucially, Lula said he would drop his dramatic show of resistance and comply with the arrest warrant.

After the speech, Lula was lifted onto the shoulders of supporters who chanted, “I am Lula.”

Last year, Moro convicted da Silva of trading favours with a construction company in exchange for the promise of a beachfront apartment. That conviction was upheld by an appeals court in January. The former president has always denied wrongdoing in that case and in several other corruption cases that have yet to be tried.

Still, his jailing marks a colossal fall from grace for a man who rose from poverty to power against steep odds in one of the world’s most unequal countries. During his two administrations, several social welfare programs and a booming economy helped tens of millions come out of abject poverty, making his downfall deeply personal for many Brazilians who saw him as a symbol of hope.

Born in the hardscrabble northeast, da Silva rose through the ranks of the union in the country’s industrial south. In 1980, during the military dictatorship, he was arrested in Sao Bernardo do Campo for organizing strikes. He would spend more than a month in jail.

After running for president several times, in 2002 da Silva finally won. He governed from 2003 to 2010, leaving office an international celebrity and with approval ratings in the high 80s.

Former US President Barack Obama once called da Silva the “most popular politician on Earth”.

After his arrest, fireworks and cheering broke out in parts of Brasilia, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and other cities among those who long considered Lula responsible for the tide of graft sweeping over Brazilian politics.

But supporters cried openly at the exit of a man they remember for removing tens of millions of people from poverty and for connecting with voters in a way few, if any, other modern Brazilian politicians have managed.

Like so much in a nation that has become deeply polarized, that da Silva would soon be behind bars was being interpreted differently by supporters and detractors.

“We have no choice but to keep our head high. Our struggle will be bigger tomorrow,” said Fernando Lauro, a supporter who watched da Silva be taken by police.

“I hope he never gets out, but I fear he will,” said Silvia Gend, a 72-year-old housewife in Sao Bernardo do Campo. “Brazil is the country of impunity.”

Workers’ Party leaders insist that da Silva, 72, will still be the party’s candidate in October. Technically, being jailed does not keep him off the ballot.

In August, however, the country’s top electoral court makes final decisions about candidacies. It is expected to deny da Silva’s candidacy under Brazil’s “clean slate” law, which disqualifies people who have had criminal convictions upheld. Da Silva could appeal, though doing so from jail would be more complicated.

The next potentially explosive legal development could come as early as Wednesday, when local media report that the Supreme Court may revisit the current law on incarceration during appeals.

The former leader is the latest of many high-profile people to be ensnared in possibly the largest corruption scandal in Latin American history. Over the last four years, Brazilians have seen near weekly police operations and arrests of the elite.

Investigators uncovered a major scheme in which construction companies essentially formed a cartel that doled out inflated contracts from state oil company Petrobras, paying billions in kickbacks to politicians and businessmen.</s>Brazil's former President Luiz Inacio "Lula" da Silva has handed himself over to police to begin a 12-year prison sentence for corruption, according to local media.

The 72-year-old left on Saturday the steel-workers union building where he had sought refuge while defying for some 24 hours a court deadline to submit to custody.

Lula was taken away from the premises in an industrial suburb of Sao Paulo in a convoy of black police cars, Globo TV reported.

An earlier attempt to leave the offices had been blocked by a crowd of supporters who opposed his arrest and blocked the exit of the building.

Lula is now expected to be flown to the southern city of Curitiba to start serving his sentence, where a "specially designed jail cell" awaited the former president, said Al Jazeera's Daniel Schweimler, reporting from Sao Paulo.

'I will come out of this bigger, stronger'

Lula's lawyers had lodged several requests to avoid jail until exhausting all appeals against his corruption conviction, which were all ultimately unsuccessful.

The leftist politician, which was president from 2003 to 2011, was convicted in July of corruption and money-laundering in connection with the renovation of a beachside penthouse he was planning to buy.

The renovation was bankrolled by a company seeking contracts with the state oil giant Petrobras.

The case was linked to the massive Lava Jato corruption scandal surrounding Petrobras, which has led to the jailing of dozens of entrepreneurs and politicians.

Judge Sergio Moro sentenced Lula to nine-and-a-half years in prison, and an appeals court raised the jail term to 12 years and one month.

The judge had ordered Lula to report to a police station in Curitiba by 5pm (20:00 GMT) on Friday. But Lula skipped the deadline and spent the night holed up inside the headquarters of the steel-workers union.

Thousands of his supporters surrounded the building overnight, dissuading the police from trying to arrest him.

He finally emerged on Saturday morning for an impromptu mass to commemorate his late wife, Marisa Leticia, who died last year.

In an hour-long speech at the event, Lula accused the judiciary and Brazil's most powerful media conglomerate of assisting what he described as a right-wing "coup" with the ultimate aim of preventing him from competing in this year's presidential elections.

Despite his legal problems, opinion polls suggest that he will win in the October 7 vote.

During his speech, Lulatold cheering supporters that Brazil's top anti-corruption judge "lied" about him being given the luxury apartment by a big construction firm as a kickback.

"I am the only human being to be put on trial for an apartment which does not belong to me," he said.

But, he added: "I will comply with their warrant".

Lula also rejected multiple suggestions of fleeing or seeking asylum abroad.

"You'll see that I will come out of this bigger, stronger," he said, promising to prove his innocence.

The union where Lula had sought refuge served as the launch pad for his career nearly four decades ago, when he led nationwide strikes that helped to end Brazil's 1964-85 military dictatorship.

Lula's everyman style and unvarnished speeches electrified masses and eventually won him two terms as president, from 2003 to 2011, when he oversaw robust economic growth and falling inequality amid a commodities boom.

He left office with a sky-high approval rate of 83 percent and was once called "the most popular politician on Earth" by former US President Barack Obama.</s>CURITIBA, Brazil—Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva woke up in jail Sunday, becoming the first current or former president in Brazil’s modern history to be incarcerated amid an ongoing saga that has added a measure of unpredictability to the country’s upcoming presidential elections. Foreshadowing possible unrest in the weeks to come, about 500 supporters remained outside of the jail hours after police shot rubber bullets and sprayed tear gas to disperse the crowd. The Workers’ Party said eight people were injured during the previous night’s clashes and one was hospitalized. No serious injuries were reported. “The police cowardly attacked us last night, but we accept that we have to stay outside the perimeter. We will respect it,” said Roberto Baggio, local co-ordinator of the Landless Workers’ Movement. “We are expecting people from southern Brazil to arrive here today. We are not leaving until Lula is freed.” Da Silva’s fall from grace has unfolded steadily over the past week after the Supreme Federal Tribunal, the country’s top court, ruled against his petition to remain free while he continued to appeal his 12-year sentence for money laundering and corruption.

But his prison conditions will not be dismal. Not considered a formal cell, the 15 square-metre room that has been set aside for the former president is located on the fourth floor of the five-story Federal Police building in Curitiba. It is mostly used as a dormitory for agents visiting from other cities across the country. Brazilian news site G1 reported that da Silva’s room has bars on the outer side of its single window and none on its door. It has enough space for a single bed and a small table now that its usual bunk beds have been removed. It also has a private bathroom with a toilet and a shower with hot water.

Workers’ Party leader Gleisi Hoffmann said da Silva was in a good mood and that she accompanied him in Curitiba until he entered the room where he will serve his sentence. Meanwhile, opinions about the incarceration of da Silva remain strong in the southern city of Curitiba, which is considered to be the centre of the so-called “Car Wash” investigation. Judge Sergio Moro, who oversees many of the Car Wash cases in the city and ordered da Silva arrested, is often seen as a hero for jailing politicians involved in the widespread corruption scheme. “There are a lot of people in jail who haven’t even been tried. Lula was sentenced to 12 years in prison, he should have been there already,” said Valmir Oliveira, who works for Parana’s sanitation company. “For the majority that works for this country, this was a relief. He is not above the law. I hope more of those politicians come to Curitiba.” Brazil’s ex-president ‘Lula’ da Silva defies order to turn himself in to police A few houses around the federal police building flew Brazilian flags, which have become a symbol of those who wanted da Silva jailed. But detractors had largely left the area around the jail, and downtown Curitiba was quiet on Sunday as residents seemed to go about their day. Da Silva will be held far from other prisoners in the building, who are located on the second floor. Some of those being held in the general lockup area are also charged with crimes related to the Car Wash corruption scandal, such as Antonio Palocci, a former minister in da Silva’s government, and Leo Pinheiro, the former president of construction firm OAS, who testified that the apartment at the centre of da Silva’s case was reserved for the former president as part of a bribe. During his time at the jail, da Silva will be on 24-hour watch and will be given two hours outside each day. His three meals will be served with plastic utensils and he will be able to receive visitors on Wednesdays. If Moro had not ordered that da Silva be held in the special room, he could have gone to a prison like Complexo Medico Penal de Pinhais, in greater Curitiba, where former Workers’ Party treasurer Joao Vaccari is jailed. The towering political figure, who had originally defied an arrest warrant and hunkered down in a metal workers union where he began his rise through the ranks of Brazilian politics, will continue to appeal his corruption conviction from jail. He is the latest high-profile Brazilian to be ensnared in the Car Wash investigation, which has seen several of the country’s political and business elite arrested over the last four years. He is also leading preference polls ahead of October’s presidential election.</s>CURITIBA: Brazil's leftist icon Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva served the first day of a 12-year prison sentence for corruption on Sunday (Apr 8), but was already hoping for a way out through the courts this week, threatening to extend the drama ahead of presidential elections.

The 72-year-old, who served two terms as head of state between 2003 and 2010, entered prison in the southern city of Curitiba late on Saturday, becoming Brazil's first ex-president to be jailed on a criminal conviction.



His cell is located in the same federal police building that serves as the base of operation "Car Wash," Brazil's wide-ranging anti-graft investigation that brought him down.

Since World War II, Brazil's presidents have often ended up in trouble - impeached, felled by a coup and even one suicide - but Lula is the first to have been convicted and locked up.



He was found guilty last year of accepting a luxury apartment as a bribe from a construction company and is the biggest scalp so far in the "Car Wash" probe. He insists on his innocence and says he was framed to stop him running in October presidential elections in which polls show him as frontrunner.

But there could be new surprises ahead, with a potentially explosive legal development coming as early as Wednesday when the Supreme Court could revisit the current law on incarceration during appeals, local media said.

As things stand, anyone convicted and losing a first appeal, as in Lula's case, must conduct further appeals from prison.

But there is pressure to change that so that higher court appeals could be pursued in liberty, which would mean freedom for Lula.

'EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE'

Analysts are quick to point out that, given the country's history of rapid and unexpected changes, anything could happen.

"In Brazil, everything is possible, so he could spend a week in prison and then a judge from the Supreme Federal Court could send him to house arrest, for example," said Oliver Stuenkel, a specialist in international relations at the Getulio Vargas Foundation in Sao Paulo.

"For a long time, we have been living with the unprecedented, so it is very difficult to predict what is going to happen," he told AFP.

With six months until Brazil's presidential election, and Lula still the frontrunner, the stakes are high.

"From prison, he will continue exerting his influence and he could also exploit the symbolism of his victimization," said Andre Cesar, an analyst at the Hold political consultancy.

Being locked up almost certainly means Lula will be out of October's presidential election, throwing the race wide open. In polls, he currently scores more than double his nearest rivals.

Lula's imprisonment triggered a barrage of protest from leftist Venezuela and Cuba, both of which denounced it as a political plot to sideline him from October's presidential race, with Caracas saying he was the "victim of a judicial inquisition."

Havana took a similar line, saying Lula had suffered "unjust persecution" at the hands of the political system, the judiciary and the media.

Meanwhile in Curitiba, around 150 of Lula's diehard supporters were still gathered near the prison, where Workers' Party president Gleisi Hoffmann pledged that the city would become a centre of political action to campaign for his release.

Lula, she said, was "a political prisoner, the first since the reemergence of democracy" in 1985.

"Curitiba will be the centre of our political action. We will only leave when Lula leaves. This vigil will be permanent."

Officials from the Unified Workers' Central (CUT), Brazil's largest trade union federation, said they were expecting dozens of convoys to arrive, bringing in supporters from across the country.

But others in the city expressed satisfaction over the ex-president's fate, coming to take pictures in front of the prison, which they dismissively called "Lula's house."



"Let Lula stay there for a long time and all his bunch with him. He deserves it," said businessman Mauro Celli, 49.

"Justice was done in this country," said Glaucio Zeni, 53.

Lula's new home, a cell measuring roughly 15 square metres, is almost luxurious by the standards of Brazil's often violent, desperately overcrowded prisons.

It has its own private toilet and hot shower - and even a television, officials said, so he should be able to watch his favourite football team, Corinthians, taking on Palmeiras in Sunday's final of the Sao Paulo championship.</s>Curitiba (Brazil):Leftist icon Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva spent on Sunday as Brazil’s first ex-president to be imprisoned for a common crime—and his cell was in the headquarters of the giant anti-graft probe that brought him down.

The first day of Lula’s 12-year sentence marked the downfall of once one of the world’s most popular politicians.

Although Brazilian presidents of recent history have routinely ended up in trouble—impeached, brought down by a coup and even one suicide—Lula is the first to have been convicted of corruption and locked up.

His new home is a roughly 160 square foot (15 meter square) cell in the federal police headquarters in Curitiba, the southern city where the “Car Wash” probe is based.

Named after a service station where agents initially uncovered a relatively small money laundering operation, “Car Wash” has turned into one of the worlds biggest ever examples of such a probe, netting scores of top politicians, some of Brazil’s richest businessmen, and sending shock waves through Latin America.

Lula was found guilty last year of taking a luxury apartment as a bribe from a construction company and is “Car Wash’s” biggest scalp—though Lula says the conviction was rigged.

The former two-term president arrived by police helicopter on the roof of the lock-up in Curitiba late Saturday. As the helicopter landed, demonstrators outside let off volleys of fireworks, while riot police fired tear gas, filling the air with explosions and smoke.

Eight people were lightly injured, including one hit by a rubber bullet, the fire department said. It was a fittingly chaotic end to four days of intense tension as Brazil wondered whether the Workers Party founder would finally be put behind bars.

Lula, who despite the scandal leads easily in polls ahead of October presidential elections, tried to get his sentence delayed in a marathon appeal at the Supreme Court in Brasilia on Wednesday.

When that was turned down, he engaged in a standoff with authorities in his hometown of Sao Bernardo do Campo, outside Sao Paulo.

Surrounded by thousands of supporters at the metalworkers union building in the suburb, he brazenly ignored an order to turn himself in by Friday.

On Saturday, he agreed to be taken into custody, only to find himself blockaded by his own supporters, with a crowd mobbing his car, shouting “Dont surrender, stay here Lula!”

At last, surrounded by bodyguards, Lula pushed through the seething throng of supporters on foot late Saturday, then got into a police vehicle and was taken to Sao Paulo airport for the flight to Curitiba.

A jail cell with extremely good conditions by the standards of Brazil’s often violent, desperately overcrowded prisons—including a hot private shower and toilet—awaited him.

After his arrest, fireworks and cheering broke out in parts of Brasilia, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and other cities among those who long considered Lula responsible for the tide of graft sweeping over Brazilian politics.

But supporters cried openly at the exit of a man they remember for removing tens of millions of people from poverty and for connecting with voters in a way few, if any, other modern Brazilian politicians have managed.

With Lula almost certainly knocked out of the presidential election, the race is likely to be thrown wide open. In polls, he currently scores more than double his nearest rivals.

However, analysts say that instability in Brazil means surprises remain possible. The next potentially explosive legal development could come as early as next Wednesday, when local media report that the Supreme Court may revisit the current law on incarceration during appeals.

Today, anyone convicted and losing a first appeal—which is Lula’s case—has to conduct any further appeals in prison. But there is pressure to change that so that higher court appeals could be pursued in liberty, which would mean freedom for Lula.</s>SAO BERNARDO DO CAMPO, Brazil (AP) — Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was taken into police custody Saturday after a tense showdown with his own supporters, capping an intense three days that underscored raw emotions over the incarceration of a once wildly popular leader who has been engulfed by corruption allegations.

Just hours earlier, da Silva told thousands of supporters that he would turn himself in to police, but also maintained his innocence and argued his corruption conviction was simply a way for enemies to make sure he doesn't run — and possibly win — re-election in October.

When he first tried to leave the metal workers union headquarters where he was holed up to turn himself in, dozens of supporters blocked a gate where a car carrying da Silva was trying to exit.

"Surround, surround (the building) and don't let them arrest him," chanted supporters. After a few minutes of tense words between guards and supporters, the former president got out of the car and entered the union headquarters.

Police vehicles surrounded the building, raising the fears of clashes. Da Silva emerged a second time shortly after nightfall, this time surrounded by bodyguards who pushed back scores of supporters who tried to stop his advance.

The dramatic scene was the latest development in a whirlwind series of days, which began when the Supreme Federal Tribunal, the country's top court, ruled against his petition on Thursday to remain free while he continued to appeal his conviction.

Judge Sergio Moro, who oversees many of the so-called "Car Wash" cases, then ordered an arrest warrant for da Silva, giving him until 5 p.m. Friday to present himself to police in Curitiba, about 260 miles (417 kilometers) southwest of Sao Bernardo do Campo, and begin serving his 12-year sentence.

Da Silva, who Brazilians simply call "Lula," did no such thing. Instead, he hunkered down with supporters in the same metallurgical union that was the spiritual birthplace of his improbable rise to power in one of the world's most unequal countries.

"The police and 'Car Wash' investigators lied. The prosecutors lied," said da Silva, as a few thousand supporters cheered.

"I don't forgive them for giving society the idea that I am a thief," he continued.

Still, da Silva said he would turn himself in "to go there and face them eye to eye. The more days they leave me (in jail), the more Lulas will be born in this country."

While da Silva spoke, some people cried while others chanted "Free Lula!" When he finished speaking, a sea of supporters carried him on their shoulders back into the building.

Late Saturday, police were flying da Silva to Curitiba, where after processing he will begin serving his sentence.

Mauricio Santoro, a political science professor at the State University of Rio de Janeiro, said that by not complying with the order on Friday da Silva "wanted to demonstrate strength and popularity, showing that he is a political leader capable of gathering a crowd in his support."

Choosing the metal workers union to take refuge, and not the Workers' Party headquarters, was also significant, said Santoro.

"It shows that he wants to emphasize his trajectory as leader of a social movement, rather than his role as leader of a party marked by allegations of corruption," he said.

Last year, Moro convicted da Silva of trading favors with a construction company in exchange for the promise of a beachfront apartment. That conviction was upheld by an appeals court in January. The former president has always denied wrongdoing in that case and in several other corruption cases that have yet to be tried.

Still, his jailing marks a colossal fall from grace for a man who rose from poverty to power against steep odds. During his two administrations, several social welfare programs and a booming economy helped tens of millions come out of abject poverty, making his downfall deeply personal for many Brazilians who saw him as a symbol of hope.

Born in the hardscrabble northeast, da Silva rose through the ranks of the union in the country's industrial south. In 1980, during the military dictatorship, he was arrested in Sao Bernardo do Campo for organizing strikes. He would spend more than a month in jail.

After running for president several times, in 2002 da Silva finally won. He governed from 2003 to 2010, leaving office an international celebrity and with approval ratings in the high 80s.

Former U.S. President Barack Obama once called da Silva the "most popular politician on Earth."

Like so much in a nation that has become deeply polarized, that da Silva would soon be behind bars was being interpreted differently by supporters and detractors.

"We have no choice but to keep our head high. Our struggle will be bigger tomorrow," said Fernando Lauro, a supporter who watched da Silva be taken by police.

"I hope he never gets out, but I fear he will," said Silvia Gend, a 72-year-old housewife in Sao Bernardo do Campo. "Brazil is the country of impunity."

Workers' Party leaders insist that da Silva, 72, will still be the party's candidate in October. Technically, being jailed does not keep him off the ballot.

In August, however, the country's top electoral court makes final decisions about candidacies. It is expected to deny da Silva's candidacy under Brazil's "clean slate" law, which disqualifies people who have had criminal convictions upheld. Da Silva could appeal, though doing so from jail would be more complicated.

The former leader is the latest of many high-profile people to be ensnared in possibly the largest corruption scandal in Latin American history. Over the last four years, Brazilians have seen near weekly police operations and arrests of the elite.

Investigators uncovered a major scheme in which construction companies essentially formed a cartel that doled out inflated contracts from state oil company Petrobras, paying billions in kickbacks to politicians and businessmen.

Peter Prengaman reported from Rio de Janeiro. Associated Press reporter Jill Langlois in Sao Paulo contributed to this report.</s>Supporters of former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva shout slogans as they protest against the order for Lula to turn himself in to police at the metallurgic trade union in Sao Bernardo do Campo, Brazil April 6, 2018. REUTERS/Leonardo...</s>The Latest on the looming arrest of Brazil's ex-President "Lula" (all times local):

Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is in police custody after a tense showdown with supporters who tried to block him leaving a union building.

Da Silva left an exit of a metal workers union surrounded by several bodyguards who pushed back supporters trying to keep him from leaving. Getting beyond them, da Silva entered a police vehicle in a convoy of cars. He was being taken to a police station in Sao Paulo. From there, he'll be transferred to the city of Curitiba in the neighboring state.

Earlier Saturday, supporters did not let da Silva leave in a vehicle. They blocked the gate.

Da Silva has been convicted with corruption and sentenced to 12 years and one month.

Supporters of former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva are not allowing his car to leave a metal workers union where the former leader has been holed up.

Da Silva, convicted of corruption, said earlier Saturday that he would turn himself into police to begin serving a 12-year sentence.

However, dozens of supporters did not let a car he was in leave the gate of the union. After a few minutes of discussions, da Silva went back into the union building.

While a warrant for da Silva's arrest has been issued, police have made clear they don't want to attempt to pick him up at the union. That could spark clashes.

Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva told supporters he will comply with an arrest warrant and turn himself in to police.

The former leader spoke on Saturday for the first time since Judge Sergio Moro issued a warrant for his arrest on Thursday.

Da Silva was to present himself to authorities by 5 p.m. Friday, but did not do so. Instead, he stayed holed up in a metal workers union that was the spiritual birthplace of his improbable rise to power in Latin America's largest nation.

Da Silva did not say where or when he would turn himself in. Party leaders have suggested it would be later Saturday.</s>CARACAS (AFP) - Crisis-hit Venezuela denounced on Sunday (April 8) the imprisonment of Brazil's ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva as a "judicial inquisition" to derail his re-election bid.

"Venezuela expresses its absolute solidarity with the former president of the Federative Republic of Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, victim of a judicial inquisition," the foreign ministry said in a statement about the leader who was a potent symbol of Latin America's left.

"The Brazilian and international right, in agreement with servile imperialism, intends to prevent" Brazilian people from re-electing Lula in October elections.

"Comrade Lula is the greatest popular leader in the political history of the South American nation," the ministry said.

Hyperinflation, scarcities of basic food and medicine, and skyrocketing violence are gripping Venezuela.

The United States and European Union have imposed sanctions on President Nicolas Maduro and his officials, with Washington calling him a "dictator."

Brazil's Lula served the first day of a 12-year prison sentence for corruption on Sunday.

The 72-year-old, who served two terms as head of state between 2003 and 2010, entered the prison in the southern city of Curitiba late on Saturday (April 7), becoming Brazil's first ex-president to be jailed as a criminal.
Former President of Brazil Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva surrenders to police following a two-day stand-off at a steelworkers' union building in São Bernardo do Campo.