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.
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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.
