Rio de Janeiro: Incumbent Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva staged a comeback victory in Sunday’s presidential runoff, defeating Liberal Party candidate Flavio Bolsonaro, who led in the first round, to secure a fourth term in office.
Born in October 1945 in northeastern Brazil, Lula was the seventh child in a poor rural family.
In the early 1970s, Lula gradually emerged as a trade union leader, becoming known as a voice for the poor and a leading figure in the struggle against the military regime. In 1980, he co-founded the Workers’ Party (PT).
After winning a landslide victory in the 2002 presidential election, Lula became Brazil’s first president from a working-class background.
In 2006, Lula was re-elected. His flagship Bolsa Familia (Family Allowance) cash transfer program helped lift millions of Brazilians out of poverty.
In 2014, Brazilian judicial authorities launched a sweeping anti-corruption investigation known as Operation Car Wash. Lula was subsequently investigated, convicted and imprisoned. In March 2021, Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court annulled all the convictions on corruption charges against Lula.
He returned to the presidential race in 2022 and defeated then-President Jair Bolsonaro, becoming the first Brazilian president to be elected to three terms by popular vote, reports Xinhua news agency.
Lula advocates a greater role for the government, stronger social policies and enhanced protection of workers’ rights. On foreign policy, he favours active engagement in international affairs, with BRICS cooperation and South-South cooperation incorporated into his updated foreign policy agenda.
Lula attaches great importance to relations with China and has actively promoted the building of a China-Brazil community with a shared future for a more just world and a more sustainable planet.
Lula is scheduled to begin his fourth four-year presidential term on January 5, 2027.
(IANS)
