In short
- Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva won Brazil’s presidency in 2002 on his fourth attempt and took office in January 2003 as the country’s first leftist leader in nearly half a century.
- Lula was convicted in July 2017 of accepting a beachside flat as a bribe from engineering firm OAS and sentenced to more than nine years in prison, a term raised to 12 years on appeal.
- Lula was released in 2019 after serving just over 18 months, when the Supreme Court ruled his imprisonment illegal because it came before all appeals had been exhausted; the convictions were annulled in 2021.
- The Bolsa Família family grant expanded under Lula reached some 44 million people, and he left office in December 2010 with an 83% approval rating.
- Lula, who turns 81 this week, returned to office in January 2023 and was endorsed again as the Workers’ Party candidate in 2026.
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has won re-election as Brazil’s president, overturning a first-round defeat within three weeks, and turns 81 this week. The former metalworker first governed from January 2003 to December 2010, returned to office in January 2023, and served 18 months in prison on corruption convictions that were annulled in 2021.
Who is Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva?
Lula was born into a poor, illiterate peasant family and worked as a peanut seller and shoe-shine boy, learning to read only at the age of 10. He trained as a metalworker and found work in an industrial city near São Paulo, where he lost the little finger of his left hand in an accident in the 1960s. In 1975 he was elected leader of the 100,000-strong Metalworkers’ Union.
In 1980 Lula united trade unionists, intellectuals, Trotskyites and Church activists to found the Workers’ Party (PT), Brazil’s first major socialist party. The PT later replaced its revolutionary platform with a more pragmatic social democratic one. Allies credited a 10.8m-follower WhatsApp channel with his previous comeback.
What did Lula’s first two terms achieve?
Lula won the presidency in 2002 at his fourth attempt and took office as Brazil’s first leftist leader in nearly half a century. He raised the minimum wage well above inflation and widened state help to the poorest through the Bolsa Família family grant, which reached some 44 million people; commentators argue the grant did not address structural causes of poverty, such as a lack of education. He left office in December 2010 with an 83% approval rating, having presided over the longest period of economic growth in three decades. Soon afterwards he was diagnosed with throat cancer, shaving his trademark beard during treatment, and doctors declared him cured in 2012.
Why was Lula jailed?
In July 2017 Lula was convicted of accepting a beachside flat as a bribe from engineering firm OAS and sentenced to more than nine years in prison, a term raised to 12 years on appeal. He was also sentenced to 12 years and 11 months for corruption and money laundering over bribes from two construction and engineering firms, paid through improvements to a country house his family used. He has always maintained his innocence and says the accusations against him were politically motivated.
Lula was released in 2019 after serving just over 18 months, when the Supreme Court ruled the imprisonment illegal because it came before all appeals had been exhausted. The convictions were annulled in 2021, allowing him to run in 2022, when he defeated the right-wing incumbent Jair Bolsonaro, whose son Flávio has since left Brazil and landed in Miami.
What has Lula done in his third term?
Lula returned to office in January 2023 and said the term would be his last, but the Workers’ Party endorsed him as its candidate again in 2026. His government points to satellite data showing that Amazon deforestation in the first half of 2026 fell to its lowest level in a decade. Environmentalists have criticised his support for exploratory oil drilling in offshore waters near the mouth of the Amazon; Lula says oil revenue is key to financing Brazil’s transition to clean energy and that he remains committed to eventually phasing out fossil fuels. His third term coincided with Donald Trump’s return to the US presidency.
Frequently asked questions
How old is Lula?
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is 80 years old and was due to turn 81 in the week his 2026 re-election as Brazil’s president was reported.
Why was Lula in prison?
Lula was convicted in July 2017 of accepting a beachside flat as a bribe and sentenced to more than nine years, later raised to 12 years on appeal. He was released in 2019 after just over 18 months when the Supreme Court ruled the detention illegal, and the convictions were annulled in 2021.
How many terms has Lula served as Brazil’s president?
Lula governed from January 2003 to December 2010, began a third term in January 2023 and has now won re-election.
What does Lula say about oil drilling near the Amazon?
Lula argues that oil revenue is key to financing Brazil’s transition to clean energy and says he remains committed to eventually phasing out fossil fuels, despite criticism from environmentalists over exploratory drilling in offshore waters near the mouth of the Amazon.
With reporting from BBC News.
Stock image, not from the events described. City Skyline — Joe deSousa / Wikimedia Commons (CC0 1.0)
