How Brazil president Lula overcame poverty, imprisonment and personal tragedies on his path back to power
From poverty to factory work
Lula was born on 27 October 1945, the seventh child of Eurídice Ferreira de Melo and Aristides Inácio da Silva. His parents were illiterate tenant farmers in Pernambuco, and the family lived in poverty.
As a boy, Lula shined shoes and delivered laundry to help support his family. He left school at 14, worked at a screw factory and trained as a machinist and metallurgist.
Union activism and political rise
Lula joined the metalworkers union in Sao Bernardo do Campo, becoming a substitute board member in 1969. In 1978 he was re-elected as Brazil’s military government restricted strikes and worker protections.
He led metalworkers’ strikes in 1979 and 1980 that helped pave the way for democracy’s return. After losing presidential bids in 1989, 1994 and 1998, he won a landslide in 2002 and secured another victory in 2006, with nearly 61 per cent of the vote.
Loss, injury and imprisonment
A machinery accident cost Lula a finger when he was a teenager. The injury later became a symbol of his working-class background, while a campaign insult about it reportedly backfired.
The report describes Lula losing two wives and a baby in tragic circumstances. It says his wife, a longtime supporter and adviser, died in 2017 after suffering a stroke; it then states that he turned himself in to police in April 2018, but the text ends there.
A comeback amid national strains
Lula’s latest victory came after pollsters had forecast his defeat, and the report says Washington was lobbying for the return of the Bolsonaro dynasty. It describes his rival as backed by Donald Trump.
Lula is set to continue overseeing Brazil amid high inflation, interest rates and public debt. In his victory speech, he acknowledged that calls for national unity did not always reflect the country’s reality.
Key points
- Lula was re-elected president of Brazil for a reported fourth time.
- He grew up poor and worked as a shoe shiner and factory machinist.
- He led metalworkers’ strikes in 1979 and 1980 during military rule.
- Brazil faces high inflation, interest rates and public debt.