Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
Encyclopedia
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (luˈiz iˈnasiu ˈlulɐ da ˈsiwvɐ; born 27 October 1945), known popularly as Lula, served as the 35th President of Brazil
from 2003 to 2010.
A founding member of the Workers' Party
(PT – Partido dos Trabalhadores), he ran for President three times unsuccessfully, first in the 1989 election
. Lula achieved victory in the 2002 election
, and was inaugurated as President on 1 January 2003. In the 2006 election
he was re-elected for a second term as President, which ended on 31 December 2010. He was succeeded by his former Chief of Staff
, Dilma Rousseff
.
He is often regarded as the most popular politician in the history of Brazil and, at the time of his mandate, one of the most popular in the world. Social programs like Bolsa Família
and Fome Zero
are hallmarks of his time in office. Lula played a prominent role in recent international relations developments, including the Nuclear program of Iran
and global warming
, and was described as "a man with audacious ambitions to alter the balance of power among nations." He was featured in Time
s The 100 Most Influential People in the World for 2010, and has been called "the most successful politician of his time."
In October 2011, Lula - who was a smoker for 40 years - was diagnosed with throat cancer and has already started his chemotherapy
treatment. Since the cancer was found in an early stage and hasn't spread to other parts of the body, his chances of cure remain high.
(then a district of Garanhuns
), located 155 miles (250 km) from Recife
, capital of Pernambuco
, a Brazilian state in the Northeast of Brazil. He was the seventh of eight children of Aristides Inácio da Silva and Eurídice Ferreira de Melo. Two weeks after Lula's birth, his father moved to Santos
with Valdomira Ferreira de Góis, a cousin of Eurídice.
In December 1952, when Lula was only 7 years old, his mother decided to move to São Paulo
with her children to rejoin her husband. After a journey of thirteen days in a pau-de-arara (the open cargo area of a truck), they arrived in Guarujá
and discovered that Aristides had formed a second family with Valdomira. Aristides' two families lived in the same house for some time, but they didn't get along very well, and four years later, Eurídice moved with her children to a small room in the back area of a bar
in the city of São Paulo
. After that, Lula rarely saw his father, who became an alcoholic and died in 1978.
Lula was married twice. In 1969, he married Maria de Lourdes, who died of hepatitis in 1971, when she was pregnant with their first son, who also died. Lula and Miriam Cordeiro had a daughter, Lurian, out of wedlock in 1974. In 1974, Lula married Marisa, his current wife and at the time a widow, with whom he had three sons (he has also adopted Marisa's son from her first marriage).
and street vendor. By age 14 he got his first formal job in a copper processing factory as a lathe operator.
At age 19, he lost the little finger on his left hand in an accident while working as a press operator in an automobile parts factory. After losing his finger he had to run to several hospitals before he received medical attention. This experience increased his interest in participating within the Workers' Union. Around that time, he became involved in union
activities and held several important union posts. Due to perceived incompatibility with the Brazilian military government and trade union
activities, Lula's views moved further to the political left.
when he worked at Indústrias Villares. He rose steadily in the ranks, and was elected in 1975, and reelected in 1978, president of the Steel Workers' Union of São Bernardo do Campo
and Diadema. Both cities are located in the ABCD Region, home to most of Brazil's automobile manufacturing facilities (such as Ford
, Volkswagen
, Toyota, Mercedes-Benz
and others) and are among the most industrialized in the country. In the late 1970s, when Brazil was under military rule, Lula helped organize union activities, including major strikes
. Labour courts found the strikes to be illegal, and Lula was jailed for a month. Due to this, and like other people imprisoned for political activities under the military government, Lula was awarded a lifetime pension after the regime fell.
(PT) or Workers' Party, a left-wing
party with progressive
ideas created in the midst of Brazil's military government.
In 1982 he added the nickname Lula to his legal name. In 1983 he helped found the Central Única dos Trabalhadores
(CUT) union association. In 1984 PT and Lula joined the popular Diretas Já
! (Direct [Elections] Now!) campaign, demanding a direct popular vote for the next Brazilian presidential election. According to the 1967 constitution, Presidents were at that time elected by both Houses of Congress in joint session, with representatives of all State Legislatures; this was widely recognised as a mere sham as, since the March 1964 coup d'état, each "elected" President had been a retired general chosen in a closed military caucus. Lula and the PT supported the public demand for a change in the electoral system. But the campaign was defeated by a vote in Congress that rejected an amendment calling direct elections for next year, and, in 1985, a civilian president, Tancredo Neves
, was elected by the same indirect procedure, with Lula's support. Only four years later, as a direct result of Diretas Já! and after years of popular struggle, the 1989 elections were the first to elect a President by direct popular vote in 29 years.
and lost. In the 1986 elections Lula won a seat in Congress
with the most votes nationwide. The Workers' Party helped write the country's post-military government Constitution
, ensuring strong constitutional guarantees for workers' rights, but failed to achieve a proposed push for agrarian reform
in the Constitutional text. Under Lula's leadership, the PT took a stance against the Constitution in the 1988 Constituent Assembly
, grudgingly agreeing to sign the convened draft at a later stage.
In 1989, still as a Congressman, Lula ran as the PT candidate in the first democratic elections for President since 1960. Lula and Leonel Brizola
, two popular left-wing candidates, were expected to vie for first place. Lula was viewed as the most left-leaning of the two, advocating immediate land reform and a default
on the external debt
. However, a minor candidate, Fernando Collor de Mello
, former governor of Alagoas
, quickly amassed support among the nation's élite
with a more business-friendly agenda. Collor became popular taking emphatic anti-corruption positions; he eventually beat Lula in the second round of the 1989 elections
. In 1992, Collor resigned, under threat of impeachment
for his alleged embezzlement
of public money.
Lula refused to run for re-election as a Congressman in 1990, busying himself with expanding the Workers' Party organizations around the country. As the political scene in the 1990s came under the sway of the Brazilian real
monetary stabilization plan, which ended decades of rampant inflation, former Minister of Finance Fernando Henrique Cardoso
(Brazilian Social Democracy Party
(PSDB)) defeated Lula in 1994
and again, by an even wider margin, in 1998
.
Before winning the presidency in 2002, Lula had been a strident union organizer
known for his bushy beard and Che Guevara
t-shirts. In the 2002 campaign, Lula foreswore both his informal clothing style and his platform plank of linking the payment of Brazil's foreign debt to a prior thorough audit. This last point had worried economists, businessmen and banks, who feared that even a partial Brazilian default along with the existing Argentine default would have a massive ripple effect through the world economy. Embracing political consultant Duda Mendonça
's advice to pursue a more media-friendly image, Lula became President after winning the second round of the 2002 election
, held on 27 October, defeating the PSDB candidate José Serra
.
Since the beginning of his political career
to the present, Lula has changed some of his original ideas and moderated his positions. Instead of the drastic social changes he proposed in the past, his government chose a reformist line, passing new retirement, tax, labour and judicial legislation, and discussing university reform.
Very few actual reforms have been implemented so far. Some wings of the Worker's Party have disagreed with this moderation in focus and have left the party to form dissident wings such as the Workers' Cause Party, the United Socialist Workers' Party
and the Socialism and Freedom Party
. Alliances with conservative, right wing politicians, like former Presidents José Sarney
and Fernando Collor, have been a cause of disappointment for some. On 1 October 2006, Lula narrowly missed winning another term in the first round of elections
. He faced a run-off
on 29 October and won by a substantial margin.
In an interview published 26 August 2007, he said that he had no intention to seek a constitutional change so that he could run for a third consecutive term; he also said that he wanted "to reach the end of [his] term in a strong position in order to influence the succession."
("Zero Hunger"). This program brings together a series of programs with the goal to end hunger in Brazil: the creation of water cisterns in Brazil's semi-arid region of Sertão
, plus actions to counter teenage pregnancy
, to strengthen family agriculture
, to distribute a minimum amount of cash to the poor, and many other measures.
Brazil's largest assistance program, however, is Bolsa Família
("Family Allowance"), which is an expansion based upon the previous Bolsa Escola ("School Allowance"), which was conditional on school attendance, first introduced in the city of Campinas
by then-mayor José Roberto Magalhães Teixeira
. Not long thereafter, other municipalities and states adopted similar programs. President Fernando Henrique Cardoso later federalized the program in 2001. In 2003, Lula formed Bolsa Família by combining Bolsa Escola with additional allowances for food and kitchen gas. This was preceded by the creation of a new ministry – the Ministry of Social Development and Eradication of Hunger. This merger reduced administrative costs and bureaucratic complexity for both the families involved and the administration of the program.
Fome Zero has a government budget and accepts donations from the private sector and international organizations The Bolsa Família program has been praised internationally for its achievements, despite internal criticism accusing it of having turned into an electoral weapon.
Along with projects such as Fome Zero and Bolsa Família, the Lula administration flagship program is the Growth Acceleration Program (PAC). The PAC has a total budget of $646 billion reais (US $353 billion) by 2010, and was the Lula administration's main investment program. It is intended to strengthen Brazil's infrastructure, and consequently to stimulate the private sector and create more jobs. The social and urban infrastructure sector was scheduled to receive $84.2 billion reais (US $46 billion). Together with increases in real wage levels (as characterised by a 54% real increase in the minimum wage), these projects had a major impact on poverty alleviation, with around 25 million Brazilians lifted out of poverty between 2002 and 2010.
of Venezuela
) increased internal market speculation. This led to some market hysteria, contributing to a currency maxi-devaluation on the real
, and a rise in Brazil's risk factor by more than 2000 base points.
In the beginning of his first term, Lula's chosen Minister of Finance was Antonio Palocci
, a physician and former Trotskyist activist who had recanted his far left
views while serving as the mayor of the sugarcane processing industry center of Ribeirão Preto
, in the state of São Paulo. Lula also chose Henrique Meirelles
of the Brazilian Social Democracy Party
, a prominent market-oriented economist, as head of the Brazilian Central Bank. As a former CEO
of the BankBoston
he was well-known to the market. Meirelles was elected to the Chamber of Deputies in 2002 as a member of the opposing PSDB, but resigned as deputy to become Governor of the Central Bank.
Silva and his cabinet followed in part the lead of the previous government, by renewing all agreements with the International Monetary Fund
, which were signed by the time Argentina
defaulted on its own deals in 2001. His government achieved a satisfactory primary budget surplus in the first two years, as required by the IMF
agreement, exceeding the target for the third year. In late 2005, the government paid off its debt to the IMF in full, two years ahead of schedule. Three years after the election, Lula had slowly but firmly gained the market's confidence, and sovereign risk indexes fell to around 250 points. The government's choice of inflation targeting kept the economy stable, and was complimented during the 2005 World Economic Forum
in Davos
.
The Brazilian economy was generally not affected by the mensalão scandal
. In early 2006, however, Palocci had to resign as finance minister due to his involvement in an abuse of power scandal. Lula then appointed Guido Mantega
, a member of the PT and an economist by profession, as finance minister. Mantega, a former Marxist who had written a Ph.D. thesis (in Sociology) on the history of economic ideas in Brazil from a left-wing viewpoint, is presently known for his criticism of high interest rates, something he claims satisfy banking interests. So far, however, Brazil's interest rates remain among the highest in the world. Mantega has been supportive of a higher employment by the state.
Not long after the start of his second term, Lula, alongside his cabinet, announced the new Growth Acceleration Program (the Programa de Aceleração de Crescimento, or PAC, in Portuguese), an investment program to solve many of the problems that prevent the Brazilian economy from expanding more rapidly. The measures include investment in the creation and repair of roads and railways, simplification and reduction of taxation, and modernization on the country's energy production to avoid further shortages. The money promised to be spent in this Program is considered to be around R$
500 billion (more than 250 billion dollars) over four years. Part of the measures still depend on approval by Congress. Prior to taking office, Lula had been a critic of privatization policies. In his government, however, his administration has created public-private partnership
concessions for seven federal roadways.
After decades as the largest foreign debtor among emerging economies, Brazil became a net creditor for the first time in January 2008. By mid-2008, both Fitch ratings and S&P had elevated the classification of Brazilian debt from speculative to investment grade. Banks have had record profit in Lula's government. The Lula Administration's economic policies also helped to significantly raise living standards, with the percentage of Brazilians belonging to the consumerist middle class rising from 37% to 50% of the population.
According to The Economist
of 2 March 2006, Lula has a pragmatic foreign policy, seeing himself as a negotiator, not an ideologue. As a result, he has befriended both Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez
and former U.S. President George W. Bush
. Leading a large and competitive agricultural state, Lula generally opposes and criticizes farm subsidies, and this position has been seen as one of the reasons for the walkout of developing nations and subsequent collapse of the Cancún World Trade Organization
talks in 2003 over G8
agricultural subsidies. Brazil is becoming influential in dialogue between South America and developed countries, especially the United States. It played an important role in negotiations in internal conflicts of Venezuela and Colombia, and concentrated efforts on strengthening Mercosur
.
During the Lula administration, Brazilian foreign trade has increased dramatically, changing from deficits to several surpluses since 2003. In 2004 the surplus reached $
29 billion due to a substantial increase in global demand for commodities. Brazil has also provided UN peace-keeping troops and leads a peace-keeping mission in Haiti
.
Lula also gained increasing stature in the Southern hemisphere buoyed by economic growth in his country. In 2008, he was said to have become a "point man for healing regional crises," as in the escalation of tensions
between Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador. Former Finance Minister
, and current advisor, Delfim Netto, said: "Lula is the ultimate pragmatist."
He travelled to more than 80 countries during his presidency. A goal of Lula's foreign policy has been for the country to gain a seat as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. In this he has so far been unsuccessful. And Lula was considered to have pulled off a major coup with Turkey in regards to getting Iran to send its uranium abroad in contravention of western calls.
The condemnation of Iranian Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani
for the crime of adultery, and who was originally to be executed by stoning led to calls for Lula da Silva's intervention on her behalf. On the issue, Lula commented that "I need to respect the laws of a [foreign] country. If my friendship with the president of Iran and the respect that I have for him is worth something, if this woman has become a nuisance, we will receive her in Brazil." The Iranian government, however, declined the offer. Lula da Silva's actions and comments sparked controversy. Mina Ahadi
, an Iranian Communist politician, welcomed Lula da Silva's offer of asylum for Ashtiani, but also reiterated a call for an end to stoning altogether and requesting a cessation of recognition and support for the Iranian government. Jackson Diehl
, Deputy Editorial Page Editor of The Washington Post
, called Lula da Silva the "best friend of tyrants in the democratic world" and criticised his actions. Shirin Ebadi
, Iranian human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner, viewed Lula da Silva's intervention in a more positive light, calling it a "powerful message to the Islamic Republic."
and sanguessugas scandals, in his first term. Although the independent office of the Brazilian Attorney-General presented charges against 40 politicians and officials involved in the Mensalão affair, no charges have ever been presented against Lula himself, and top officials involved, such as Roberto Jefferson
, José Dirceu
, Luiz Gushiken
and Humberto Costa denied he was aware of any wrongdoing. Having lost numerous government aides in the face of political turmoil, Lula has come largely unscathed in the eyes of the public, with overwhelming approval rates.
His administration has been heavily criticized for relying on local political barons, like José Sarney
, Jader Barbalho
, Renan Calheiros
and Fernando Collor, to ensure a majority in Congress. He lost some important votes there, though, for example when the Senate
barred the financial tax from being reinstated. Another frequent reproach relates to his ambiguous treatment of the left wing in the Workers' Party. Analysts fear that he occasionally gives in to their wishes for tighter government control of the media and increased state intervention: in 2004, he pushed for the creation of a "Federal Council of Journalists" (CFJ) and a "National Cinema Agency" (Ancinav), the latter of which would overhaul funding for electronic communications
. Both proposals ultimately failed amid concerns that they would lead to excessive state intervention over free speech. Fernando Cardoso, Lula's predecessor as the president of Brazil, has accused Lula of denying any positive achievements allegedly made by the Cardoso administration.
In March 2009, before an appearance at the G-20 summit meeting in London, Lula caused an uproar when he declared that the economic crisis was caused by "the irrational behavior of white people
with blue eyes, who before seemed to know everything, and now have shown they don't know anything." Despite a decision upheld by the Brazilian Supreme Court, Lula decided to deny extradition of the Italian far-left terrorist Cesare Battisti.
. He elected to undergo chemotherapy
to counteract the tumor, and on 16 November, pictures were released by his press office of his wife shaving his beard and hair, leaving him bald but retaining his moustache. It was the first time that Lula was seen without his beard since leaving office.
, the Order of the Southern Cross
, the Mexican Order of the Aztec Eagle
and the Norwegian Order of Royal Merit; the First Class of the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise
(Ukraine
, 2003), the Order of Liberty
(Ukraine, 2009). He also received the Prince of Asturias Award for International Cooperation in 2003 and was the chief guest at India's Republic Day
celebration in 2004. He was also given the Jawaharlal Nehru Award
in 2006. He was rated the most popular Brazilian president of all time with an 80.5% approval rate in his last months as the president.
US President Barack Obama greeted him at the G20 summit in London (April, 2009) saying:
"That's my man right there...love this guy...The most popular politician on earth."
Lula was chosen as the 2009 Man of the Year by prominent European newspapers El País and Le Monde
. The Financial Times
ranks Lula among the 50 faces that shaped the 2000s.
On 20 December 2008, he was named the 18th most important person in the world by Newsweek
magazine, and was the only Latin American person featured in a list of 50 most influential World leaders.
On July 7, 2009, he received UNESCO's Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize
at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, France. On 5 November 2009, President Lula was awarded the Chatham House Prize, awarded to the statesperson who is deemed by Chatham House members to have made the most significant contribution to the improvement of international relations in the previous year.
On 29 January 2010, President Lula was awarded as a Global Statesman by the World Economic Forum
, held in Davos, Switzerland, but could not attend the ceremony due to problems of high blood pressure.
In 2010, Time Magazine named Lula one of the most influential leaders of the world.
On 27 September 2011, President Lula received a doctorate honoris causa from the Paris Institute of Political Studies, commonly known as Sciences Po.
On October 14, 2011, President Lula received the 2011 World Food Prize
, along with John Kufuor
, for his personal commitment and visionary leadership while serving as the president of Brazil, and for creating and implementing government policies to alleviate hunger and poverty in his country.
Speeches
|-
President of Brazil
The president of Brazil is both the head of state and head of government of the Federative Republic of Brazil. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the Brazilian Armed Forces...
from 2003 to 2010.
A founding member of the Workers' Party
Workers' Party (Brazil)
The Workers' Party is a democratic socialist political party in Brazil. Launched in 1980, it is recognized as one of the largest and most important left-wing movements of Latin America. It governs at the federal level in a coalition government with several other parties since January 1, 2003...
(PT – Partido dos Trabalhadores), he ran for President three times unsuccessfully, first in the 1989 election
Brazilian presidential election, 1989
The Brazilian presidential election of 1989 was the first direct presidential election in Brazil since 1960.-Historical context:On January 15, 1985, Tancredo Neves won the election for president on the electoral college, represented by Deputies and Senators, putting an end to the 21-year-old...
. Lula achieved victory in the 2002 election
Brazilian general election, 2002
Lula's Worker's Party won the most seats in the Parliamentary elections, though failed to gain an outright majority as they won only 91 of the 513 seats.-Results:...
, and was inaugurated as President on 1 January 2003. In the 2006 election
Brazilian general election, 2006
The 2006 election were marked by the now extinct "verticalization rule", which forced parties to form coalitions on a state level with the same parties with which they were allied nationwide. This rule was introduced at the 2002 general elections by the Supreme Electoral Court.All Chamber of...
he was re-elected for a second term as President, which ended on 31 December 2010. He was succeeded by his former Chief of Staff
Chief of Staff of Brazil
The Chief of Staff of the Presidency of the Republic is the highest-ranking member of the Executive Office of Brazil, and a senior aide to the President.In Brazil, the Chief of Staff is a member of the president's cabinet, with the rank of Minister....
, Dilma Rousseff
Dilma Rousseff
Dilma Vana Rousseff is the 36th and current President of Brazil. She is the first woman to hold the office. Prior to that, in 2005, she was also the first woman to become Chief of Staff of Brazil, appointed by then President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva....
.
He is often regarded as the most popular politician in the history of Brazil and, at the time of his mandate, one of the most popular in the world. Social programs like Bolsa Família
Bolsa Família
Bolsa Família is a social welfare program of the Brazilian government, part of the Fome Zero network of federal assistance programs. Bolsa Família provides financial aid to poor Brazilian families; if they have children, families must ensure that the infants attend school and are vaccinated...
and Fome Zero
Fome Zero
Fome Zero is a Brazilian government program introduced by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in 2003, with the objective to eradicate hunger and extreme poverty in Brazil.-Contents of the program:...
are hallmarks of his time in office. Lula played a prominent role in recent international relations developments, including the Nuclear program of Iran
Nuclear program of Iran
The nuclear program of Iran was launched in the 1950s with the help of the United States as part of the Atoms for Peace program. The support, encouragement and participation of the United States and Western European governments in Iran's nuclear program continued until the 1979 Iranian Revolution...
and global warming
Global warming
Global warming refers to the rising average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans and its projected continuation. In the last 100 years, Earth's average surface temperature increased by about with about two thirds of the increase occurring over just the last three decades...
, and was described as "a man with audacious ambitions to alter the balance of power among nations." He was featured in Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
s The 100 Most Influential People in the World for 2010, and has been called "the most successful politician of his time."
In October 2011, Lula - who was a smoker for 40 years - was diagnosed with throat cancer and has already started his chemotherapy
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is the treatment of cancer with an antineoplastic drug or with a combination of such drugs into a standardized treatment regimen....
treatment. Since the cancer was found in an early stage and hasn't spread to other parts of the body, his chances of cure remain high.
Early life
Luiz Inácio da Silva was born on 27 October 1945 (but registered with a date of birth of 6 October 1945) in CaetésCaetés, Pernambuco
Caetés is a Brazilian small city located within the state of Pernambuco, in northeastern Brazil. The city belongs to the mesoregion of Agreste Pernambucano and microregion of Garanhuns. It is the birthplace of former president of Brazil Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva...
(then a district of Garanhuns
Garanhuns
Garanhuns is a city in the Brazilian state of Pernambuco. Located in the Borborema Plateau, the town is known as the "Suíça Pernambucana" due to its pleasant weather during summer and low temperatures during winter, something rather unusual for the region...
), located 155 miles (250 km) from Recife
Recife
Recife is the fifth-largest metropolitan area in Brazil with 4,136,506 inhabitants, the largest metropolitan area of the North/Northeast Regions, the 5th-largest metropolitan influence area in Brazil, and the capital and largest city of the state of Pernambuco. The population of the city proper...
, capital of Pernambuco
Pernambuco
Pernambuco is a state of Brazil, located in the Northeast region of the country. To the north are the states of Paraíba and Ceará, to the west is Piauí, to the south are Alagoas and Bahia, and to the east is the Atlantic Ocean. There are about of beaches, some of the most beautiful in the...
, a Brazilian state in the Northeast of Brazil. He was the seventh of eight children of Aristides Inácio da Silva and Eurídice Ferreira de Melo. Two weeks after Lula's birth, his father moved to Santos
Santos (São Paulo)
-Sister cities: Shimonoseki, Japan Nagasaki, Japan Funchal, Portugal Trieste, Italy Coimbra, Portugal Ansião, Portugal Arouca, Portugal Ushuaia, Argentina Havana, Cuba Taizhou. China Ningbo. China Constanţa, Romania Ulsan, South Korea Colón, Panama* Cadiz, Spain...
with Valdomira Ferreira de Góis, a cousin of Eurídice.
In December 1952, when Lula was only 7 years old, his mother decided to move to São Paulo
São Paulo (state)
São Paulo is a state in Brazil. It is the major industrial and economic powerhouse of the Brazilian economy. Named after Saint Paul, São Paulo has the largest population, industrial complex, and economic production in the country. It is the richest state in Brazil...
with her children to rejoin her husband. After a journey of thirteen days in a pau-de-arara (the open cargo area of a truck), they arrived in Guarujá
Guarujá
Guarujá is a municipality in the São Paulo state of Brazil. The population in 2006 was 305,171, the population density is 1,969.47/km² and the area is 143 km². This place name comes from the Tupi language, and mean "narrow path". The population is highly urbanized.-Geography:Guarujá is...
and discovered that Aristides had formed a second family with Valdomira. Aristides' two families lived in the same house for some time, but they didn't get along very well, and four years later, Eurídice moved with her children to a small room in the back area of a bar
Bar (establishment)
A bar is a business establishment that serves alcoholic drinks — beer, wine, liquor, and cocktails — for consumption on the premises.Bars provide stools or chairs that are placed at tables or counters for their patrons. Some bars have entertainment on a stage, such as a live band, comedians, go-go...
in the city of São Paulo
São Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
. After that, Lula rarely saw his father, who became an alcoholic and died in 1978.
Lula was married twice. In 1969, he married Maria de Lourdes, who died of hepatitis in 1971, when she was pregnant with their first son, who also died. Lula and Miriam Cordeiro had a daughter, Lurian, out of wedlock in 1974. In 1974, Lula married Marisa, his current wife and at the time a widow, with whom he had three sons (he has also adopted Marisa's son from her first marriage).
Education and work
Lula had little formal education. He did not learn to read until he was ten years old, and quit school after the fourth grade in order to work to help his family. His working life began at age 12 as a shoeshinerShoeshiner
Shoeshiner or boot polisher is a profession in which a person polishes shoes with shoe polish. They are often known as shoeshine boys because the job is traditionally that of a male child. In the leather fetish communities, they are often called bootblacks...
and street vendor. By age 14 he got his first formal job in a copper processing factory as a lathe operator.
At age 19, he lost the little finger on his left hand in an accident while working as a press operator in an automobile parts factory. After losing his finger he had to run to several hospitals before he received medical attention. This experience increased his interest in participating within the Workers' Union. Around that time, he became involved in union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
activities and held several important union posts. Due to perceived incompatibility with the Brazilian military government and trade union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
activities, Lula's views moved further to the political left.
Union career
Inspired by his brother Frei Chico, Lula joined the labour movementLabour movement
The term labour movement or labor movement is a broad term for the development of a collective organization of working people, to campaign in their own interest for better treatment from their employers and governments, in particular through the implementation of specific laws governing labour...
when he worked at Indústrias Villares. He rose steadily in the ranks, and was elected in 1975, and reelected in 1978, president of the Steel Workers' Union of São Bernardo do Campo
São Bernardo do Campo
São Bernardo do Campo is a municipality in the state of São Paulo, in southern Metropolitan São Paulo and São Paulo microregion. The municipality's total area is 408.45 km ² and a population estimated at 1 July 2009, according to the IBGE, was 810,979 inhabitants, which results in a population...
and Diadema. Both cities are located in the ABCD Region, home to most of Brazil's automobile manufacturing facilities (such as Ford
Ford do Brasil
Ford do Brasil is a subsidiary of American automaker Ford Motor Company, founded on April 24, 1919. The operation started out importing the Ford Model T cars and the Ford Model TT trucks in kit form from the US for assembly in Brazil...
, Volkswagen
Volkswagen do Brasil
Volkswagen do Brasil Ltda. is a subsidiary arm of Volkswagen Group, established in 1953.-Brazilian developed Volkswagens:Many of its models were designed especially for Brazil:*Brasilia*SP1 & SP2*1500/Variant/Variant II*Karmann Ghia TC...
, Toyota, Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. Mercedes-Benz is a division of its parent company, Daimler AG...
and others) and are among the most industrialized in the country. In the late 1970s, when Brazil was under military rule, Lula helped organize union activities, including major strikes
Strike action
Strike action, also called labour strike, on strike, greve , or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became important during the industrial revolution, when mass labour became...
. Labour courts found the strikes to be illegal, and Lula was jailed for a month. Due to this, and like other people imprisoned for political activities under the military government, Lula was awarded a lifetime pension after the regime fell.
Political career
On 10 February 1980, a group of academics, intellectuals, and union leaders, including Lula, founded the Partido dos TrabalhadoresWorkers' Party (Brazil)
The Workers' Party is a democratic socialist political party in Brazil. Launched in 1980, it is recognized as one of the largest and most important left-wing movements of Latin America. It governs at the federal level in a coalition government with several other parties since January 1, 2003...
(PT) or Workers' Party, a left-wing
Left-wing politics
In politics, Left, left-wing and leftist generally refer to support for social change to create a more egalitarian society...
party with progressive
Progressivism
Progressivism is an umbrella term for a political ideology advocating or favoring social, political, and economic reform or changes. Progressivism is often viewed by some conservatives, constitutionalists, and libertarians to be in opposition to conservative or reactionary ideologies.The...
ideas created in the midst of Brazil's military government.
In 1982 he added the nickname Lula to his legal name. In 1983 he helped found the Central Única dos Trabalhadores
Central Única dos Trabalhadores
-See also:*Confederação Geral dos Trabalhadores*Força Sindical-External links:...
(CUT) union association. In 1984 PT and Lula joined the popular Diretas Já
Diretas Já
Diretas Já Now) was a civil unrest movement which, in 1984, demanded direct presidential elections in Brazil.-Participants of the movement: The movement brought together diverse elements of Brazilian society. Participants came from a broad spectrum of political parties, trade unions, civil,...
! (Direct [Elections] Now!) campaign, demanding a direct popular vote for the next Brazilian presidential election. According to the 1967 constitution, Presidents were at that time elected by both Houses of Congress in joint session, with representatives of all State Legislatures; this was widely recognised as a mere sham as, since the March 1964 coup d'état, each "elected" President had been a retired general chosen in a closed military caucus. Lula and the PT supported the public demand for a change in the electoral system. But the campaign was defeated by a vote in Congress that rejected an amendment calling direct elections for next year, and, in 1985, a civilian president, Tancredo Neves
Tancredo Neves
Tancredo de Almeida Neves, SFO more commonly Tancredo Neves was a Brazilian politician. He was born in São João del Rey, in the state of Minas Gerais, of mostly Portuguese, but also Austrian descent and graduated in law. The Neves family name comes from an Azorean great great grandfather...
, was elected by the same indirect procedure, with Lula's support. Only four years later, as a direct result of Diretas Já! and after years of popular struggle, the 1989 elections were the first to elect a President by direct popular vote in 29 years.
Elections
Lula first ran for office in 1982, for the state government of São PauloSão Paulo (state)
São Paulo is a state in Brazil. It is the major industrial and economic powerhouse of the Brazilian economy. Named after Saint Paul, São Paulo has the largest population, industrial complex, and economic production in the country. It is the richest state in Brazil...
and lost. In the 1986 elections Lula won a seat in Congress
National Congress of Brazil
The National Congress of Brazil is the legislative body of Brazil's federal government.Unlike regional legislative bodies – Legislative Assemblies and City Councils -, the Congress is bicameral, composed of the Federal Senate and the Chamber of Deputies .The Senate represents the 26 states and...
with the most votes nationwide. The Workers' Party helped write the country's post-military government Constitution
Constitution of Brazil
During its independent political history, Brazil has had seven constitutions. The most recent was ratified on October 5, 1988.-Imperial Constitution :Background...
, ensuring strong constitutional guarantees for workers' rights, but failed to achieve a proposed push for agrarian reform
Agrarian reform
Agrarian reform can refer either, narrowly, to government-initiated or government-backed redistribution of agricultural land or, broadly, to an overall redirection of the agrarian system of the country, which often includes land reform measures. Agrarian reform can include credit measures,...
in the Constitutional text. Under Lula's leadership, the PT took a stance against the Constitution in the 1988 Constituent Assembly
1988 Constituent Assembly
The 1988 Constituent Assembly , also known as the National Constituent Assembly was a constituent assembly held in Brasília to establish Brazil's new democratic Constitution after 21 years under military rule. On November 1986, general elections were held to elect the members of the Constituent...
, grudgingly agreeing to sign the convened draft at a later stage.
In 1989, still as a Congressman, Lula ran as the PT candidate in the first democratic elections for President since 1960. Lula and Leonel Brizola
Leonel Brizola
Leonel de Moura Brizola was a Brazilian politician. Launched in politics by Getúlio Vargas, Brizola was the only politician to serve as governor of two different states in the whole history of Brazil. In 1959 he was elected governor of Rio Grande do Sul, and in 1982 and 1990 he was elected...
, two popular left-wing candidates, were expected to vie for first place. Lula was viewed as the most left-leaning of the two, advocating immediate land reform and a default
Default (finance)
In finance, default occurs when a debtor has not met his or her legal obligations according to the debt contract, e.g. has not made a scheduled payment, or has violated a loan covenant of the debt contract. A default is the failure to pay back a loan. Default may occur if the debtor is either...
on the external debt
External debt
External debt is that part of the total debt in a country that is owed to creditors outside the country. The debtors can be the government, corporations or private households. The debt includes money owed to private commercial banks, other governments, or international financial institutions such...
. However, a minor candidate, Fernando Collor de Mello
Fernando Collor de Mello
Fernando Affonso Collor de Mello was the 32nd president of Brazil from 1990 to 1992, when he resigned in a failed attempt to stop his trial of impeachment by the Brazilian Senate...
, former governor of Alagoas
Alagoas
Alagoas is one of the 27 federative units of Brazil and is situated in the eastern part of the Northeast Region. It borders: Pernambuco ; Sergipe ; Bahia ; and the Atlantic Ocean . It occupies an area of 27,767 km², being slightly larger than Haiti...
, quickly amassed support among the nation's élite
Elite
Elite refers to an exceptional or privileged group that wields considerable power within its sphere of influence...
with a more business-friendly agenda. Collor became popular taking emphatic anti-corruption positions; he eventually beat Lula in the second round of the 1989 elections
Brazilian presidential election, 1989
The Brazilian presidential election of 1989 was the first direct presidential election in Brazil since 1960.-Historical context:On January 15, 1985, Tancredo Neves won the election for president on the electoral college, represented by Deputies and Senators, putting an end to the 21-year-old...
. In 1992, Collor resigned, under threat of impeachment
Impeachment
Impeachment is a formal process in which an official is accused of unlawful activity, the outcome of which, depending on the country, may include the removal of that official from office as well as other punishment....
for his alleged embezzlement
Embezzlement
Embezzlement is the act of dishonestly appropriating or secreting assets by one or more individuals to whom such assets have been entrusted....
of public money.
Lula refused to run for re-election as a Congressman in 1990, busying himself with expanding the Workers' Party organizations around the country. As the political scene in the 1990s came under the sway of the Brazilian real
Brazilian real
The real is the present-day currency of Brazil. Its sign is R$ and its ISO code is BRL. It is subdivided into 100 centavos ....
monetary stabilization plan, which ended decades of rampant inflation, former Minister of Finance Fernando Henrique Cardoso
Fernando Henrique Cardoso
Fernando Henrique Cardoso – also known by his initials FHC – was the 34th President of the Federative Republic of Brazil for two terms from January 1, 1995 to December 31, 2002. He is an accomplished sociologist, professor and politician...
(Brazilian Social Democracy Party
Brazilian Social Democracy Party
The Brazilian Social Democracy Party is a centrist political party in Brazil. Originally a centre-left party at the time of its foundation, PSDB moved to the centre after Fernando Henrique Cardoso forged an alliance with the right-wing Liberal...
(PSDB)) defeated Lula in 1994
Brazilian general election, 1994
In October 1994, a general election was held in Brazil. Former Finance Minister Fernando Henrique Cardoso, candidate of the Brazilian Social Democratic Party, won the presidential election in the first round with 54,27% of the votes...
and again, by an even wider margin, in 1998
Brazilian general election, 1998
The 1998 Brazilian general election was held on two rounds. The first round was held on Sunday, October 4. On this date, Fernando Henrique Cardoso was re-elected President and the governorships of 14 states were defined, in addition to all seats in the Chamber of Deputies and Legislative...
.
Before winning the presidency in 2002, Lula had been a strident union organizer
Union organizer
A union organizer is a specific type of trade union member or an appointed union official. A majority of unions appoint rather than elect their organizers....
known for his bushy beard and Che Guevara
Che Guevara
Ernesto "Che" Guevara , commonly known as el Che or simply Che, was an Argentine Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, intellectual, guerrilla leader, diplomat and military theorist...
t-shirts. In the 2002 campaign, Lula foreswore both his informal clothing style and his platform plank of linking the payment of Brazil's foreign debt to a prior thorough audit. This last point had worried economists, businessmen and banks, who feared that even a partial Brazilian default along with the existing Argentine default would have a massive ripple effect through the world economy. Embracing political consultant Duda Mendonça
Duda Mendonça
José Eduardo Cavalcanti de Mendonça, known as Duda Mendonça, is one of the principal advertising and political strategist specialists in Brazil...
's advice to pursue a more media-friendly image, Lula became President after winning the second round of the 2002 election
Brazilian general election, 2002
Lula's Worker's Party won the most seats in the Parliamentary elections, though failed to gain an outright majority as they won only 91 of the 513 seats.-Results:...
, held on 27 October, defeating the PSDB candidate José Serra
José Serra
José Serra is a Brazilian politician, former secretary of state, congressman, senator, minister of Planning and Minister of Health, mayor of São Paulo and Governor of São Paulo state.-Background:...
.
Presidency
Lula served 2 terms as president and left office on January 1, 2011. During his farewell speech he said he felt an additional burden to prove that he could handle the presidency despite his humble beginnings. "If I failed, it would be the workers' class which would be failing; it would be this country's poor who would be proving they did not have what it takes to rule."Political orientation
Career
Career is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as a person's "course or progress through life ". It is usually considered to pertain to remunerative work ....
to the present, Lula has changed some of his original ideas and moderated his positions. Instead of the drastic social changes he proposed in the past, his government chose a reformist line, passing new retirement, tax, labour and judicial legislation, and discussing university reform.
Very few actual reforms have been implemented so far. Some wings of the Worker's Party have disagreed with this moderation in focus and have left the party to form dissident wings such as the Workers' Cause Party, the United Socialist Workers' Party
United Socialist Workers' Party
The Unified Socialist Workers' Party is a Trotskyist organisation in Brazil. It is the largest section of the International Workers' League , an international body of groups in the Morenoist tradition....
and the Socialism and Freedom Party
Socialism and Freedom Party
The Socialism and Freedom Party is a Brazilian political party . Among the party leaders are Heloísa Helena , federal deputies Luciana Genro and Babá , and a number of well-known Brazilian left-wing leaders and intellectuals, such as Milton Temer, Carlos Nelson Coutinho, Ricardo Antunes,...
. Alliances with conservative, right wing politicians, like former Presidents José Sarney
José Sarney
José Sarney de Araújo Costa is a Brazilian lawyer, writer and politician. He served as president of Brazil from 15 March 1985 to 15 March 1990....
and Fernando Collor, have been a cause of disappointment for some. On 1 October 2006, Lula narrowly missed winning another term in the first round of elections
Brazilian general election, 2006
The 2006 election were marked by the now extinct "verticalization rule", which forced parties to form coalitions on a state level with the same parties with which they were allied nationwide. This rule was introduced at the 2002 general elections by the Supreme Electoral Court.All Chamber of...
. He faced a run-off
Two-round system
The two-round system is a voting system used to elect a single winner where the voter casts a single vote for their chosen candidate...
on 29 October and won by a substantial margin.
In an interview published 26 August 2007, he said that he had no intention to seek a constitutional change so that he could run for a third consecutive term; he also said that he wanted "to reach the end of [his] term in a strong position in order to influence the succession."
Social projects
Lula put social programs at the top of his agenda during the campaign and since being elected. Lula's leading program since very early on has been a campaign to eradicate hunger, following the lead of projects already put into practice by the Fernando Henrique Cardoso administration, but expanded within the new Fome ZeroFome Zero
Fome Zero is a Brazilian government program introduced by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in 2003, with the objective to eradicate hunger and extreme poverty in Brazil.-Contents of the program:...
("Zero Hunger"). This program brings together a series of programs with the goal to end hunger in Brazil: the creation of water cisterns in Brazil's semi-arid region of Sertão
Sertão
In Portuguese, the word sertão first referred to the vast hinterlands of Asia that Lusitanian explorers encountered. In Brazil, the geographical term referred to backlands away from the Atlantic coastal regions where the Portuguese first settled in South America in the early sixteenth century...
, plus actions to counter teenage pregnancy
Pregnancy
Pregnancy refers to the fertilization and development of one or more offspring, known as a fetus or embryo, in a woman's uterus. In a pregnancy, there can be multiple gestations, as in the case of twins or triplets...
, to strengthen family agriculture
Family farm
A family farm is a farm owned and operated by a family, and often passed down from generation to generation. It is the basic unit of the mostly agricultural economy of much of human history and continues to be so in developing nations...
, to distribute a minimum amount of cash to the poor, and many other measures.
Brazil's largest assistance program, however, is Bolsa Família
Bolsa Família
Bolsa Família is a social welfare program of the Brazilian government, part of the Fome Zero network of federal assistance programs. Bolsa Família provides financial aid to poor Brazilian families; if they have children, families must ensure that the infants attend school and are vaccinated...
("Family Allowance"), which is an expansion based upon the previous Bolsa Escola ("School Allowance"), which was conditional on school attendance, first introduced in the city of Campinas
Campinas
Campinas is a city and municipality located in the coastal interior of the state of São Paulo, Brazil. is the administrative center of the meso-region of the same name, with 3,783,597 inhabitants as of the 2010 Census, consisting of 49 cities....
by then-mayor José Roberto Magalhães Teixeira
José Roberto Magalhães Teixeira
José Roberto Magalhães Teixeira was a Brazilian politician, twice mayor of the municipality of Campinas, in the state of São Paulo.Born in Andradas, state of Minas Gerais, on 18 June 1937, he moved to Campinas in 1957, in order to study dentistry at the Pontifical Catholic University...
. Not long thereafter, other municipalities and states adopted similar programs. President Fernando Henrique Cardoso later federalized the program in 2001. In 2003, Lula formed Bolsa Família by combining Bolsa Escola with additional allowances for food and kitchen gas. This was preceded by the creation of a new ministry – the Ministry of Social Development and Eradication of Hunger. This merger reduced administrative costs and bureaucratic complexity for both the families involved and the administration of the program.
Fome Zero has a government budget and accepts donations from the private sector and international organizations The Bolsa Família program has been praised internationally for its achievements, despite internal criticism accusing it of having turned into an electoral weapon.
Along with projects such as Fome Zero and Bolsa Família, the Lula administration flagship program is the Growth Acceleration Program (PAC). The PAC has a total budget of $646 billion reais (US $353 billion) by 2010, and was the Lula administration's main investment program. It is intended to strengthen Brazil's infrastructure, and consequently to stimulate the private sector and create more jobs. The social and urban infrastructure sector was scheduled to receive $84.2 billion reais (US $46 billion). Together with increases in real wage levels (as characterised by a 54% real increase in the minimum wage), these projects had a major impact on poverty alleviation, with around 25 million Brazilians lifted out of poverty between 2002 and 2010.
Economy
As Lula gained strength in the run-up to the 2002 elections, the fear of drastic measures (and comparisons with Hugo ChávezHugo Chávez
Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías is the 56th and current President of Venezuela, having held that position since 1999. He was formerly the leader of the Fifth Republic Movement political party from its foundation in 1997 until 2007, when he became the leader of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela...
of Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
) increased internal market speculation. This led to some market hysteria, contributing to a currency maxi-devaluation on the real
Brazilian real
The real is the present-day currency of Brazil. Its sign is R$ and its ISO code is BRL. It is subdivided into 100 centavos ....
, and a rise in Brazil's risk factor by more than 2000 base points.
In the beginning of his first term, Lula's chosen Minister of Finance was Antonio Palocci
Antonio Palocci
Antonio Palocci Filho is a Brazilian physician and politician, and former Chief of Staff of Brazil under President Dilma Rousseff . He was the Finance minister of the Brazilian federal government from January 1, 2003 until March 27, 2006 , during the presidency of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva...
, a physician and former Trotskyist activist who had recanted his far left
Far left
Far left, also known as the revolutionary left, radical left and extreme left are terms which refer to the highest degree of leftist positions among left-wing politics...
views while serving as the mayor of the sugarcane processing industry center of Ribeirão Preto
Ribeirão Preto
Ribeirão Preto is a municipality and city in the Northeastern region of the state of São Paulo in Brazil. It is nicknamed Brazilian California, because of a combination of an economy based on agrobusiness plus high technology, wealth and sunny weather all year long. With 605,114 inhabitants,...
, in the state of São Paulo. Lula also chose Henrique Meirelles
Henrique Meirelles
Henrique de Campos Meirelles is the former president of Banco Central do Brasil, Brazil's central bank. In 2002 he was elected to the Chamber of Deputies, Brazil's congressional lower house, as a Goiás-state PSDB party congressman...
of the Brazilian Social Democracy Party
Brazilian Social Democracy Party
The Brazilian Social Democracy Party is a centrist political party in Brazil. Originally a centre-left party at the time of its foundation, PSDB moved to the centre after Fernando Henrique Cardoso forged an alliance with the right-wing Liberal...
, a prominent market-oriented economist, as head of the Brazilian Central Bank. As a former CEO
Chief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...
of the BankBoston
BankBoston
BankBoston was a bank based in Boston, Massachusetts, which was created by the 1996 merger of Bank of Boston and BayBank. Bank of Boston had a venerable history dating back to 1784, but the merged BankBoston was short-lived, being acquired by Fleet Bank in 1999...
he was well-known to the market. Meirelles was elected to the Chamber of Deputies in 2002 as a member of the opposing PSDB, but resigned as deputy to become Governor of the Central Bank.
Silva and his cabinet followed in part the lead of the previous government, by renewing all agreements with the International Monetary Fund
International Monetary Fund
The International Monetary Fund is an organization of 187 countries, working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world...
, which were signed by the time Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
defaulted on its own deals in 2001. His government achieved a satisfactory primary budget surplus in the first two years, as required by the IMF
International Monetary Fund
The International Monetary Fund is an organization of 187 countries, working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world...
agreement, exceeding the target for the third year. In late 2005, the government paid off its debt to the IMF in full, two years ahead of schedule. Three years after the election, Lula had slowly but firmly gained the market's confidence, and sovereign risk indexes fell to around 250 points. The government's choice of inflation targeting kept the economy stable, and was complimented during the 2005 World Economic Forum
World Economic Forum
The World Economic Forum is a Swiss non-profit foundation, based in Cologny, Geneva, best known for its annual meeting in Davos, a mountain resort in Graubünden, in the eastern Alps region of Switzerland....
in Davos
Davos
Davos is a municipality in the district of Prättigau/Davos in the canton of Graubünden, Switzerland. It has a permanent population of 11,248 . Davos is located on the Landwasser River, in the Swiss Alps, between the Plessur and Albula Range...
.
The Brazilian economy was generally not affected by the mensalão scandal
Mensalão scandal
The Mensalão scandal took place in Brazil in 2005 and threatened to bring down the government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Mensalão is a neologism and variant of the word for "big monthly payment"...
. In early 2006, however, Palocci had to resign as finance minister due to his involvement in an abuse of power scandal. Lula then appointed Guido Mantega
Guido Mantega
Guido Mantega is a Brazilian economist, politician and currently Brazil's Finance Minister. He graduated in Economics from the Faculdade de Economia, Administração e Contabilidade of the University of São Paulo and is a professor of Economics at several leading universities of São Paulo.He has...
, a member of the PT and an economist by profession, as finance minister. Mantega, a former Marxist who had written a Ph.D. thesis (in Sociology) on the history of economic ideas in Brazil from a left-wing viewpoint, is presently known for his criticism of high interest rates, something he claims satisfy banking interests. So far, however, Brazil's interest rates remain among the highest in the world. Mantega has been supportive of a higher employment by the state.
Not long after the start of his second term, Lula, alongside his cabinet, announced the new Growth Acceleration Program (the Programa de Aceleração de Crescimento, or PAC, in Portuguese), an investment program to solve many of the problems that prevent the Brazilian economy from expanding more rapidly. The measures include investment in the creation and repair of roads and railways, simplification and reduction of taxation, and modernization on the country's energy production to avoid further shortages. The money promised to be spent in this Program is considered to be around R$
Brazilian real
The real is the present-day currency of Brazil. Its sign is R$ and its ISO code is BRL. It is subdivided into 100 centavos ....
500 billion (more than 250 billion dollars) over four years. Part of the measures still depend on approval by Congress. Prior to taking office, Lula had been a critic of privatization policies. In his government, however, his administration has created public-private partnership
Public-private partnership
Public–private partnership describes a government service or private business venture which is funded and operated through a partnership of government and one or more private sector companies...
concessions for seven federal roadways.
After decades as the largest foreign debtor among emerging economies, Brazil became a net creditor for the first time in January 2008. By mid-2008, both Fitch ratings and S&P had elevated the classification of Brazilian debt from speculative to investment grade. Banks have had record profit in Lula's government. The Lula Administration's economic policies also helped to significantly raise living standards, with the percentage of Brazilians belonging to the consumerist middle class rising from 37% to 50% of the population.
Foreign policy
The Economist
The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...
of 2 March 2006, Lula has a pragmatic foreign policy, seeing himself as a negotiator, not an ideologue. As a result, he has befriended both Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez
Hugo Chávez
Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías is the 56th and current President of Venezuela, having held that position since 1999. He was formerly the leader of the Fifth Republic Movement political party from its foundation in 1997 until 2007, when he became the leader of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela...
and former U.S. President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
. Leading a large and competitive agricultural state, Lula generally opposes and criticizes farm subsidies, and this position has been seen as one of the reasons for the walkout of developing nations and subsequent collapse of the Cancún World Trade Organization
World Trade Organization
The World Trade Organization is an organization that intends to supervise and liberalize international trade. The organization officially commenced on January 1, 1995 under the Marrakech Agreement, replacing the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade , which commenced in 1948...
talks in 2003 over G8
G8
The Group of Eight is a forum, created by France in 1975, for the governments of seven major economies: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In 1997, the group added Russia, thus becoming the G8...
agricultural subsidies. Brazil is becoming influential in dialogue between South America and developed countries, especially the United States. It played an important role in negotiations in internal conflicts of Venezuela and Colombia, and concentrated efforts on strengthening Mercosur
Mercosur
Mercosur or Mercosul is an economic and political agreement among Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. Founded in 1991 by the Treaty of Asunción, which was later amended and updated by the 1994 Treaty of Ouro Preto. Its purpose is to promote free trade and the fluid movement of goods, people,...
.
During the Lula administration, Brazilian foreign trade has increased dramatically, changing from deficits to several surpluses since 2003. In 2004 the surplus reached $
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
29 billion due to a substantial increase in global demand for commodities. Brazil has also provided UN peace-keeping troops and leads a peace-keeping mission in Haiti
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
.
Lula also gained increasing stature in the Southern hemisphere buoyed by economic growth in his country. In 2008, he was said to have become a "point man for healing regional crises," as in the escalation of tensions
2008 Andean diplomatic crisis
The 2008 Andean diplomatic crisis was a diplomatic stand-off between the South American countries of Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela. It began with an incursion into Ecuadorian territory across the Putumayo River by the Colombian military on March 1, 2008, leading to the deaths of over twenty...
between Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador. Former Finance Minister
Finance minister
The finance minister is a cabinet position in a government.A minister of finance has many different jobs in a government. He or she helps form the government budget, stimulate the economy, and control finances...
, and current advisor, Delfim Netto, said: "Lula is the ultimate pragmatist."
He travelled to more than 80 countries during his presidency. A goal of Lula's foreign policy has been for the country to gain a seat as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. In this he has so far been unsuccessful. And Lula was considered to have pulled off a major coup with Turkey in regards to getting Iran to send its uranium abroad in contravention of western calls.
The condemnation of Iranian Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani
Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani
Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani , is an Iranian woman who has gained the attention of human rights groups and people throughout the world for a conviction of adultery and accompanying sentence of death by stoning. Since 2006, she has been imprisoned and under a death sentence in Tabriz, Iran after being...
for the crime of adultery, and who was originally to be executed by stoning led to calls for Lula da Silva's intervention on her behalf. On the issue, Lula commented that "I need to respect the laws of a [foreign] country. If my friendship with the president of Iran and the respect that I have for him is worth something, if this woman has become a nuisance, we will receive her in Brazil." The Iranian government, however, declined the offer. Lula da Silva's actions and comments sparked controversy. Mina Ahadi
Mina Ahadi
Mina Ahadi is an Austrian human rights activist. As an Iranian born Communist political activist she is a current member of the Central Committee and Politburo of the Worker-Communist Party of Iran....
, an Iranian Communist politician, welcomed Lula da Silva's offer of asylum for Ashtiani, but also reiterated a call for an end to stoning altogether and requesting a cessation of recognition and support for the Iranian government. Jackson Diehl
Jackson Diehl
Jackson Diehl is the Deputy Editorial Page Editor of The Washington Post. He writes many of the paper's editorials on foreign affairs, helps to oversee the editorial and oped pages and authors a regular column....
, Deputy Editorial Page Editor of The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
, called Lula da Silva the "best friend of tyrants in the democratic world" and criticised his actions. Shirin Ebadi
Shirin Ebadi
Shirin Ebadi is an Iranian lawyer, a former judge and human rights activist and founder of Defenders of Human Rights Center in Iran. On 10 October 2003, Ebadi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her significant and pioneering efforts for democracy and human rights, especially women's,...
, Iranian human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner, viewed Lula da Silva's intervention in a more positive light, calling it a "powerful message to the Islamic Republic."
Corruption scandals and controversy
Lula's administration was plagued by corruption scandals, most notably the mensalãoMensalão scandal
The Mensalão scandal took place in Brazil in 2005 and threatened to bring down the government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Mensalão is a neologism and variant of the word for "big monthly payment"...
and sanguessugas scandals, in his first term. Although the independent office of the Brazilian Attorney-General presented charges against 40 politicians and officials involved in the Mensalão affair, no charges have ever been presented against Lula himself, and top officials involved, such as Roberto Jefferson
Roberto Jefferson
Roberto Jefferson Monteiro Francisco is a Brazilian politician. He was born on June 14, 1953 in Petrópolis, in the state of Rio de Janeiro. He is the son of Neusa Dalva Monteiro Francisco and Roberto Francisco...
, José Dirceu
José Dirceu
José Dirceu de Oliveira e Silva is a Brazilian politician.He participated in a revolutionary armed group following the Brazilian military coup of 1964, and was exiled in 1969. He returned in 1980 and was active politically, his highest post was as the chief-of-staff to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's...
, Luiz Gushiken
Luiz Gushiken
Luiz Gushiken is a Brazilian activist and politician. He was formerly the head of the social communication office of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's administration, a position which carried a ministerial rank....
and Humberto Costa denied he was aware of any wrongdoing. Having lost numerous government aides in the face of political turmoil, Lula has come largely unscathed in the eyes of the public, with overwhelming approval rates.
His administration has been heavily criticized for relying on local political barons, like José Sarney
José Sarney
José Sarney de Araújo Costa is a Brazilian lawyer, writer and politician. He served as president of Brazil from 15 March 1985 to 15 March 1990....
, Jader Barbalho
Jáder Barbalho
Jader Fontenelle Barbalho is a Brazilian politician, businessman and landowner from the state of Pará. He is currently a member of the PMDB party and a Senator for Pará...
, Renan Calheiros
Renan Calheiros
Renan Calheiros is a Brazilian politician and former President of the Senate of Brazil. He represents the state of Alagoas in the senate for the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party....
and Fernando Collor, to ensure a majority in Congress. He lost some important votes there, though, for example when the Senate
Senate of Brazil
The Federal Senate of Brazil is the upper house of the National Congress of Brazil. Created by the first Constitution of the Brazilian Empire in 1824, it was inspired by the United Kingdom's House of Lords, but with the Proclamation of the Republic in 1889 it became closer to the United States...
barred the financial tax from being reinstated. Another frequent reproach relates to his ambiguous treatment of the left wing in the Workers' Party. Analysts fear that he occasionally gives in to their wishes for tighter government control of the media and increased state intervention: in 2004, he pushed for the creation of a "Federal Council of Journalists" (CFJ) and a "National Cinema Agency" (Ancinav), the latter of which would overhaul funding for electronic communications
Electronic media
Electronic media are media that use electronics or electromechanical energy for the end-user to access the content. This is in contrast to static media , which today are most often created electronically, but don't require electronics to be accessed by the end-user in the printed form...
. Both proposals ultimately failed amid concerns that they would lead to excessive state intervention over free speech. Fernando Cardoso, Lula's predecessor as the president of Brazil, has accused Lula of denying any positive achievements allegedly made by the Cardoso administration.
In March 2009, before an appearance at the G-20 summit meeting in London, Lula caused an uproar when he declared that the economic crisis was caused by "the irrational behavior of white people
White people
White people is a term which usually refers to human beings characterized, at least in part, by the light pigmentation of their skin...
with blue eyes, who before seemed to know everything, and now have shown they don't know anything." Despite a decision upheld by the Brazilian Supreme Court, Lula decided to deny extradition of the Italian far-left terrorist Cesare Battisti.
Post-presidency
On 29 October, 2011, Lula was announced by Sírio-Libanes Hospital to have contracted throat cancer by way of a malignant tumor in his larynxLarynx
The larynx , commonly called the voice box, is an organ in the neck of amphibians, reptiles and mammals involved in breathing, sound production, and protecting the trachea against food aspiration. It manipulates pitch and volume...
. He elected to undergo chemotherapy
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is the treatment of cancer with an antineoplastic drug or with a combination of such drugs into a standardized treatment regimen....
to counteract the tumor, and on 16 November, pictures were released by his press office of his wife shaving his beard and hair, leaving him bald but retaining his moustache. It was the first time that Lula was seen without his beard since leaving office.
Awards and recognition
Since Lula began his term as President, he has attained numerous medals, such as the Brazilian Order of Merit, the Brazilian Orders of Military, Naval and Aeronautical Merit, the Brazilian Order of Scientific MeritBrazilian Order of Scientific Merit
The National Order of Scientific Merit is an honor bestowed upon Brazilian and foreign personalities recognized for their scientific and technical contributions to the cause and development of science in Brazil.-Biology:* Marcelo Hermes-Lima* Jorge Curi...
, the Order of the Southern Cross
Order of the Southern Cross
The National Order of the Southern Cross is a Brazilian order of chivalry founded by Emperor Pedro I on 1 December 1822. This order was intended to commemorate the independence of Brazil and the coronation of Pedro I...
, the Mexican Order of the Aztec Eagle
Order of the Aztec Eagle
The Order of the Aztec Eagle is a Mexican order and is the highest decoration awarded to foreigners in the country.It was created by decree on December 29, 1933 by President Abelardo L. Rodríguez as a reward to services given to Mexico or humankind by foreigners...
and the Norwegian Order of Royal Merit; the First Class of the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise
Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise
The Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise is an award of Ukraine. It is awarded for distinguished services to the state and people of the Ukrainian nation. The Order was instituted on August 23, 1995 by the Ukrainian President, Leonid Kuchma....
(Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, 2003), the Order of Liberty
Order of Liberty (Ukraine)
The Order of Liberty is an award of Ukraine. The Order was instituted on April 10, 2008, by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine to honour special merits of citizens for strengthening the Sovereignty and Independence of Ukraine, consolidating Ukrainian society, developing Democracy, advancing...
(Ukraine, 2009). He also received the Prince of Asturias Award for International Cooperation in 2003 and was the chief guest at India's Republic Day
Republic Day (India)
The Republic Day of India commemorates the date on which the Constitution of India came into force replacing the Government of India Act 1935 as the governing document of India on 26 January 1950....
celebration in 2004. He was also given the Jawaharlal Nehru Award
Jawaharlal Nehru Award
Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding is an international award presented by the Government of India. It was founded in 1965 and is administered by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations to people "for their outstanding contribution to the promotion of international...
in 2006. He was rated the most popular Brazilian president of all time with an 80.5% approval rate in his last months as the president.
US President Barack Obama greeted him at the G20 summit in London (April, 2009) saying:
"That's my man right there...love this guy...The most popular politician on earth."
Lula was chosen as the 2009 Man of the Year by prominent European newspapers El País and Le Monde
Le Monde
Le Monde is a French daily evening newspaper owned by La Vie-Le Monde Group and edited in Paris. It is one of two French newspapers of record, and has generally been well respected since its first edition under founder Hubert Beuve-Méry on 19 December 1944...
. The Financial Times
Financial Times
The Financial Times is an international business newspaper. It is a morning daily newspaper published in London and printed in 24 cities around the world. Its primary rival is the Wall Street Journal, published in New York City....
ranks Lula among the 50 faces that shaped the 2000s.
On 20 December 2008, he was named the 18th most important person in the world by Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
magazine, and was the only Latin American person featured in a list of 50 most influential World leaders.
On July 7, 2009, he received UNESCO's Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize
Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize
The Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize was established in 1990 by UNESCO:The prize bears the name of Félix Houphouët-Boigny, late former president of Côte d'Ivoire. It is awarded annually. The prize is 122,000 euros, to be shared equally in the case of multiple recipients.-Recipients:-External...
at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, France. On 5 November 2009, President Lula was awarded the Chatham House Prize, awarded to the statesperson who is deemed by Chatham House members to have made the most significant contribution to the improvement of international relations in the previous year.
On 29 January 2010, President Lula was awarded as a Global Statesman by the World Economic Forum
World Economic Forum
The World Economic Forum is a Swiss non-profit foundation, based in Cologny, Geneva, best known for its annual meeting in Davos, a mountain resort in Graubünden, in the eastern Alps region of Switzerland....
, held in Davos, Switzerland, but could not attend the ceremony due to problems of high blood pressure.
In 2010, Time Magazine named Lula one of the most influential leaders of the world.
On 27 September 2011, President Lula received a doctorate honoris causa from the Paris Institute of Political Studies, commonly known as Sciences Po.
On October 14, 2011, President Lula received the 2011 World Food Prize
World Food Prize
The World Food Prize is an international award recognizing the achievements of individuals who have advanced human development by improving the quality, quantity or availability of food in the world.-The Prize:...
, along with John Kufuor
John Kufuor
John Kofi Agyekum Kufuor was the second president of the 4th Republic of Ghana and Chairperson of the African Union...
, for his personal commitment and visionary leadership while serving as the president of Brazil, and for creating and implementing government policies to alleviate hunger and poverty in his country.
See also
- Lula, o filho do BrasilLula, o filho do BrasilLula, The Son of Brazil is a 2009 biographical Brazilian drama film based on the early life of former Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Directed by Academy Award-nominated director Fábio Barreto, the film was released on January 1, 2010...
, a Brazilian film about Lula's life up to 35 years of age.
Further reading
- Silva, Luis Inácio da; Castro, Cassiana Rosa de; Machado, Sueli de Fátima; Santos, Alveci Oliveira de Orato; Ferreira, Luiz Tarcísio Teixeira; Teixeira, Paulo; Suplicy, Marta; Dutra, Olívio (2003). "The programme for land tenure legalization on public land in São Paulo, Brazil." Environment and Urbanization 15 (2): 191–200.
- Bourne, R (2008). Lula of Brazil : The story so far. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-24663-8
- Goertzel, Ted (2011). Brazil's Lula: The Most Popular Politician on Earth. Boca Raton, Florida: Brown Walker Press. ISBN 978-1612335056.
External links
- Profile: Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, BBC News, 28 January 2010
- The 2010 TIME 100: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Michael Moore, TimeTime (magazine)Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
, 20 April 2010
Speeches
- Transcript of statements by Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, President of Brazil, to the high-level meeting for foreign investors, United Nations Conference on Trade and DevelopmentUnited Nations Conference on Trade and DevelopmentThe United Nations Conference on Trade and Development was established in 1964 as a permanent intergovernmental body. It is the principal organ of the United Nations General Assembly dealing with trade, investment, and development issues....
, 29 January 2004, (meeting press release) - General Debate of the 64th Session, United NationsUnited NationsThe United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
, 2009
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