Havana, October  22 (RHC)— Cubans are collecting signatures for a petition drive to demand the immediate release of former Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, imprisoned for alleged corruption in a lawsuit denounced as politicized.

Members of the student federations and trade union federation in the Cuban province of Holguín joined the demand on Tuesday.

The signatures are being collected until October 28th in public institutions and study centers throughout the island, commemorating Lula's 74th birthday, next October 27th.

"With our signatures, we will demand the immediate release of Lula da Silva," said Cuban head of state Miguel Díaz-Canel, through his account in Twitter.

Once the petition drive concludes, the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples  (ICAP) will deliver them to the Brazilian delegation that will attend the Anti-Imperialist Solidarity Meeting, for Democracy and against Neoliberalism, to be held between November 1st and 3rd in Havana.