Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva Article

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva summary

verifiedCite
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style
Feedback
Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login).
Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

External Websites
Below is the article summary. For the full article, see Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, known as Lula, (born Oct. 27, 1945, Garanhuns, Pernambuco state, Braz.), Brazilian politician who was president of Brazil during 2003–11. A former factory worker, Lula helped build a labour union movement into the important Workers’ Party. In 1988 his party swept the municipal elections of São Paulo and other major cities. A leading contender for president in 1989, 1994, and 1998, proposing policies to help Brazil’s working class, he lost each time to more-conservative candidates. In 2002, however, he was successful in his bid for the presidency. During his first term Lula oversaw a growing economy and a reduction in the poverty rate. Despite a corruption scandal that involved members of his party, Lula was reelected in 2006. His popularity continued to increase, but he was constitutionally barred from seeking a third consecutive term. In 2017 Lula was convicted of corruption charges in connection with the Petrobras scandal and after appeal began serving a prison sentence in April 2018. When the charges against him were dismissed in March 2021, he was eligible to run for the presidency again in 2022.