Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, known as Lula, is a Brazilian politician. He is the president of Brazil. Lula was born on 27 October 1945 in Pernambuco. He grew up in a poor family and left school after the second grade. As a teenager, he began working as a metalworker.

Lula became a leader for workers' rights and helped start the Workers' Party in 1980. He ran for president many times before winning in 2002. During his first time as president from 2003 to 2011, he created programs to help Brazilians. He was very popular when he left office.

Lula faced some legal problems but was later cleared. In 2022, he ran for president again and won. At the age of 77, he became the oldest person to be sworn in as Brazil’s president. Since 2023, Lula has been working on reforms to help Brazil’s economy and environment.

Early life

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was born on 27 October 1945 in Caetés, a small place near Recife, the capital of Pernambuco, a state in the Northeast of Brazil. He was one of eight children in a family of farmers. His family moved to São Paulo when he was seven.

Lula grew up in a small room behind a bar. He didn’t go to school much and had to work from a very young age. He later added the nickname “Lula” to his name.

Personal life

Lula has been married three times and has children from different relationships. His first wife, Maria de Lourdes Ribeiro, passed away in 1971. In 1974, he had a daughter with Miriam Cordeiro and married Marisa Letícia Rocco Casa. They had three sons and adopted her child from before they married. Marisa passed away in 2017. Later, he married Rosângela da Silva, known as Janja, in 2022.

Lula is a Catholic and supports the football club SC Corinthians Paulista.

Education and work

Lula did not go to school for very long. He stopped after the second grade and started working when he was eight years old, selling things on the street. By the time he was twelve, he also shone shoes for people.

In 1960, when he was fourteen, Lula got his first real job in a warehouse. Soon after, in 1961, he began working with metal machines at a factory that made screws. This job showed him how important it was for workers to help each other. Later, he worked at a larger metal company called Villares Metals S.A from 1966 to 1980. During this time, he helped workers and took on many roles in the union.

Union career

Lula was inspired by his brother to join the workers' movement. He worked at a metal factory and became leader of the metalworkers' union in São Bernardo do Campo and Diadema. These cities have many car factories, like Ford, Volkswagen, Toyota, and Mercedes-Benz.

During the late 1970s, when Brazil was ruled by the military, Lula helped plan big strikes. The government said these strikes were not allowed, and Lula was put in jail for a month. After the military government ended, he received a special pension.

Political career

In 1980, some teachers and union leaders, including Lula, started the Workers' Party. It was a left-wing group with progressive ideas. In 1983, he helped create the Central Única dos Trabalhadores, a trade union group.

Elections

Lula first tried to become a leader in 1982 for São Paulo, but he did not win. In 1986, he got a job in the National Congress with many votes.

In 1989, Lula tried to become president. Another person, Fernando Collor de Mello, won instead. Lula tried again in the next two elections but did not win. In 2002, Lula won and became the country’s first leftist president after the military dictatorship in Brazil. He won again in 2006.

In 2018, Lula could not run for president because of a legal problem. Another person, Fernando Haddad, ran instead but did not win.

Electoral history

First presidency (2003–2011)

Lula served two terms as president of Brazil from 2003 to 2011. During his time in office, he felt a big responsibility to lead well, especially because he came from a simple background. He wanted to show that ordinary people could govern successfully.

Many of the changes Lula planned for education and social programs were started but not finished. Some people in his party disagreed with his approaches and left to form new groups. He worked with older leaders in politics, which disappointed some supporters.

Lula started several programs to help schools and students. He provided free meals to millions of children and tried to make education free for students who needed it most. He also wanted to make sure every child could go to school, but this didn’t work perfectly everywhere.

One of Lula’s biggest goals was to help end hunger in Brazil. He created programs to support poor families and give them help to improve their lives. Even though some of these programs started slowly, they did help reduce hunger and poor nutrition in the country. He also began big projects to build homes and improve living conditions in areas where people lived in tough conditions.

Lula’s time as president coincided with a period when Brazil’s economy grew strongly because global prices for things like soy, coffee, and iron ore went up. This helped Brazil pay off debts early and support many social programs. However, there were also problems with corruption and delays in big infrastructure projects.

Lula worked to protect forests and wildlife, though not all his efforts succeeded. He also made efforts to build stronger relationships with other countries around the world, supporting peace and development in many places.

Corruption scandals and controversy

See also: List of scandals in Brazil

Lula had many questions about his time in office. Some people thought he knew about bad things happening, but he said he did not.

Some of the people who worked for him did wrong things. One of them was a leader in his party who had to go to jail.

People also said that Lula used friends who supported the government to help him stay in power. He tried to make new rules about movies and TV, but these rules did not work.

Lula was also asked about a man who was wanted for hurting people in another country. Lula decided not to send this man back to face charges.

Later, Lula and some of his team were asked about money that may have been used to help pass certain laws. A judge said there was not enough proof that Lula did anything wrong.

In 2014, Brazil started looking into a big problem with money at an oil company. This led to many people being asked about what they knew. Lula was one of them. Some said he helped get money for his friends, but Lula said this was not true and that he was being treated unfairly.

Lula was found to have taken money to help fix his house, and was told to spend time in jail. He said this was not fair and that he was being treated this way because he wanted to be president again.

Later, a court said that the judge who made the decision may not have been fair, so Lula was let out of jail. The court also said that the cases against Lula should be looked at again in a different place.

Between terms (2011–2023)

Health

In October 2011, Lula was found to have a growth in his voice box that needed treatment. He received medical care and announced he was better by March 2012.

In January 2021, Lula tested positive for a sickness that made many people very ill, but he got better without needing to stay in a hospital. In March 2021, he received a medicine to help protect him from getting very sick again. In October 2023, Lula had surgery to help with pain in his hip and also had a small operation to improve how his eyelids looked.

2018 presidential campaign

In 2017, Lula said he would try to become president again in the election of 2018. He traveled with many supporters through different parts of Brazil. Even though he was in prison in April 2018, his party still let him be their candidate for president.

In August 2018, Lula’s name was taken off the list of candidates by the group that decides who can run for president in Brazil. Because of this, Fernando Haddad became the candidate instead, and Lula supported him.

Second presidency (2023–present)

2022 election

Lula ran for president again in 2022 against the current president, Jair Bolsonaro. In the first round, Lula got the most votes, so there was a second round. In the second round, Lula won and became president again on January 1, 2023. This made him the first president to be elected three times and the oldest president at that time.

Tenure

Lula worked to rebuild the country after a tough economic time. He supported democracy, peace, and growth. He wanted to reduce poverty, improve education, and create a national culture system. He also planned to build more homes.

Foreign policy

Lula met with leaders from China, Cuba, Iran, Nicaragua, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and others to improve Brazil’s relationships with other countries. They talked about trade, peace, and working together.

Economy

Lula brought back a program to help poor families, called Bolsa Família, which had been weakened before. He also made big plans to invest in buildings, energy, and roads. His goal was to help the economy grow and fight hunger by creating food banks and supporting local farms.

Environment

Lula promised to stop illegal logging and reduce deforestation in the Amazon. He planned to create a sustainable economy there and protect indigenous lands. However, some of his actions raised concerns about the environment.

Health problems

Lula had some health problems, including a fall that caused a small injury to his brain. He also had surgery for a brain issue and later needed treatment for his inner ear and eyes.

Political positions and philosophy

See also: Lulism

Lula supports ideas called "socialism of the 21st century," but his way of thinking is often like social liberalism. He has a moderate, centre-left view on money matters and supports the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. He is personally against some medical choices but thinks they should be dealt with as a public health issue.

Lula has talked about supporting Palestine and wants a two-state solution where Palestine is its own country. He has also discussed the situation in the Gaza Strip, saying peace and fairness for everyone is important.

Honours and awards

Since 2003, Lula has received many important awards. In 2008, he got the UNESCO Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize for working to help peace. In 2012, he received the Four Freedoms Award. In 2025, a type of Brazilian frog named Brachycephalus lulai was named after him.

National honours

State honours

Foreign honours

Foreign awards

In popular culture

A famous Brazilian director made a film in 2009 called Lula, Son of Brazil. The movie shows Lula's early life.

Lula also appears in a Netflix series named The Mechanism. In 2019, a documentary called The Edge of Democracy looked at Lula’s time in politics. Lula is also in a 2024 documentary called Apocalypse in the Tropics.