Lula
Overview
Lula (Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, born October 27, 1945) is a Brazilian politician and former metalworker, a founding member of Brazil's Workers' Party (PT) and a leading left-wing figure. He served two terms as president from 2003 to 2010, and after imprisonment on corruption charges and the restoration of his political rights, he won the 2022 presidential election and began a third term on January 1, 2023. During his time in office he gained international renown for lifting millions out of poverty through social welfare policies such as Bolsa Família, and he is still regarded as a symbolic figure of left-wing politics in South America.
Key Details
Birth and Working-Class Years
Lula was born the seventh of eight children in a poor farming family in the state of Pernambuco; he moved to São Paulo, where he worked from childhood as a shoeshine boy, a child factory worker, and in other jobs. At 14 he got a job at a metal factory and worked as a lathe operator, and in 1975, when he became president of the metalworkers' union in the ABC region of São Paulo state, he threw himself into the labor movement in earnest. In 1980, during the military regime, he took part in founding the Workers' Party, and in the 1980s he led large-scale strikes and rose to become a national leader.
Presidential Bids and First Term (2003–2010)
After successive defeats in the 1989, 1994, and 1998 presidential elections, he shifted to a pragmatic line and won the 2002 election. In his first term he maintained market-friendly macroeconomic policies such as inflation targeting and the Fiscal Responsibility Law while greatly expanding social policies such as Bolsa Família (a family grant) and ProUni (a university scholarship program). During his tenure the economy grew on the back of a commodity export boom with emerging economies such as China, and by the time he left office in 2010 his approval rating exceeded 80 percent. He elevated Brazil to a core axis of BRICS and in 2010 installed Dilma Rousseff, the country's first woman president, as his successor.
Corruption Scandal and Imprisonment
Indicted on bribery charges in the large-scale 'Lava Jato' (Car Wash) corruption investigation that began in 2014, he was imprisoned in April 2018. This effectively derailed his candidacy in the 2018 election, and Jair Bolsonaro was elected. After his release in November 2019, the Federal Supreme Court annulled the guilty verdict in 2021 on grounds of the presiding judge's partiality and jurisdictional issues, bringing about his political rehabilitation.
Third Term (2023–)
In the October 2022 presidential runoff he narrowly defeated Bolsonaro and was elected. On January 8, 2023, he suppressed an invasion of Congress and the presidential palace by supporters and stabilized his government, and he resumed policies on environmental protection, reducing Amazon rainforest destruction, raising the minimum wage, and cutting poverty. Internationally he sought to place Brazil once again at the center of multilateral diplomacy, and he served as G20 chair in 2024 and BRICS chair in 2025.
Recent Developments
In 2024–2025 Lula, though he suffered health problems (skull surgery and recovery in late 2024), has maintained his political standing while hinting at a possible run in the 2026 presidential election. Economically, inflation, persistently high benchmark interest rates, and concerns over the fiscal deficit emerged as major challenges, and the weakness of the Brazilian real after 2024 weighed on policy. In diplomacy, mediation of the Russia-Ukraine war, strengthening of a strategic partnership with China, and a tariff conflict with the Donald Trump administration in the United States emerged as major issues. In addition, as the trial of Bolsonaro, indicted on coup charges, proceeded in 2025, Lula has continued to govern amid judicial risk and political polarization. In the environmental field, he has highlighted achievements in reducing Amazon deforestation and emphasized climate diplomacy leadership by securing the hosting of COP30, held in Belém in 2025.
Related Topics
- [[브라질]]
- [[노동자당 (브라질)]]
- [[지우마 호세프]]
- [[자이르 보우소나루]]
- [[BRICS]]
- [[볼사 파밀리아]]