Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
President of Brazil (2003–2010, 2023–present) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (Brazilian Portuguese: [luˈiz iˈnasju ˈlulɐ dɐ ˈsiwvɐ] (
listen); born Luiz Inácio da Silva; 27 October 1945),[1] known as Lula, is a Brazilian politician who is the 39th and current president of Brazil.[2][3] A member of the Workers' Party, he previously served as the 35th president of Brazil from 2003 to 2010.[4]
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Official portrait, 2023 | |
| President of Brazil | |
| Assumed office 1 January 2023 | |
| Vice President | Geraldo Alckmin |
| Preceded by | Jair Bolsonaro |
| In office 1 January 2003 – 31 December 2010 | |
| Vice President | José Alencar |
| Preceded by | Fernando Henrique Cardoso |
| Succeeded by | Dilma Rousseff |
| National President of the Workers' Party | |
| In office 15 July 1990 – 24 January 1994 | |
| Preceded by | Luiz Gushiken |
| Succeeded by | Rui Falcão |
| In office 9 August 1980 – 17 January 1988 | |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Olívio Dutra |
| Federal Deputy | |
| In office 1 February 1987 – 1 February 1991 | |
| Constituency | São Paulo |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Luiz Inácio da Silva 27 October 1945 Caetés, Pernambuco, Brazil |
| Political party | PT (1980–present) |
| Spouses | Maria de Lourdes Ribeiro
(m. 1969; died 1971) |
| Children | 5 |
| Residence | Palácio da Alvorada |
| Education | National Service for Industrial Training |
| Occupation | Metalworker, trade unionist |
| Signature |  |
| Website | lula |
| ||
|---|---|---|
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35th President of Brazil
39th President of Brazil
Scandals and controversies
Presidential elections
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Of working-class origin, Lula migrated as a child from Pernambuco to São Paulo with his family. As a teenager, he began his career as a metalworker and became a trade unionist. During the military dictatorship in Brazil, he led major workers' strikes between 1978 and 1980, and helped start the Workers' Party in 1980, during Brazil's political opening. Lula was one of the main leaders of the Diretas Já movement, which demanded democratic elections. In the 1986 Brazilian legislative election, he was elected as a federal deputy in the state of São Paulo, with the most votes nationwide. He ran his first major campaign in the 1989 Brazilian presidential election, losing in the second round to Fernando Collor de Mello. He went on to lose two other presidential elections in 1994 and 1998 to Fernando Henrique Cardoso, before becoming president in the 2002 Brazilian presidential election, in which he defeated José Serra in the runoff. In 2006, he was re-elected as president, defeating Geraldo Alckmin in the second round.[5]
Described as left-wing,[6][7][8] his first presidency, which coincided with the first pink tide in the region, was marked by the consolidation of social welfare programs such as Bolsa Família and Fome Zero, which propelled Brazil to leave the United Nations' Hunger Map.[9] During his two terms in office, he undertook radical reforms in the country, which eventually led to growth in GDP, reduction in public debt and inflation, and helping 20 million Brazilians escape poverty.[10] Poverty, inequality, illiteracy, unemployment, infant mortality, and child labor rates fell significantly, while the minimum wage and average income increased, and access to school, university, and health care was expanded. He also played a prominent role in foreign policy, both on a regional level (as part of the BRICS) and as part of global trade and environmental negotiations.[11] Lula was considered one of the most popular politicians in the history of Brazil, and was one of the most popular in the world while president.[12][13][14] Although popular, his first term was marked by notable scandals, such as the Mensalão scandal and Escândalo dos sanguessugas. After the 2010 Brazilian general election, he was succeeded by his former Chief of Staff, Dilma Rousseff.[15]
After his first presidency, Lula remained active in politics, and began giving lectures in Brazil and abroad. In 2016, he was appointed as Rousseff's Chief of Staff, but the appointment was suspended by the Supreme Federal Court.[16][17] In July 2017, Lula was convicted on charges of money laundering and corruption in a controversial trial that was later nullified in April 2021 by the Supreme Court Justices, due to the court lacking proper jurisdiction over his case.[18][19] Lula attempted to run in the 2018 Brazilian presidential election but was disqualified under Brazil's Ficha Limpa law.[20] Before the annulment of his cases, he was sentenced to nine and a half years in prison, and after an unsuccessful appeal, Lula was arrested in April 2018 and spent 580 days in jail, until being released in November 2019, when the Supreme Federal Court ruled that his imprisonment was unlawful.[21][22][23][24] In March 2021, the Supreme Court ruled that the federal judge presiding over the case, Sergio Moro, who served as Minister of Justice and Public Security in the presidency of Jair Bolsonaro,[25] was biased,[26] and all of the cases Moro had brought against Lula were annulled in June 2021. Following the court ruling, Lula was legally allowed to make another run for president in the 2022 elections, defeating Bolsonaro in the runoff.[27] He became the first Brazilian president to have been elected to a third term, and the first to have defeated an incumbent president in an election. At age 77, he was sworn in on 1 January 2023, as the oldest Brazilian president at the time of inauguration.[28][29][30] A week later, the Praça dos Três Poderes was attacked in an invasion led by pro-Bolsonaro rioters. Lula condemned the attack and promised to punish everyone involved.