Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (born 27 October 1945; Pernambuco), also known as Lula da Silva or simply Lula, is a Brazilian politician who is the 39th and current president of Brazil since 2023. A member of the Workers' Party, Lula was also the 35th president from 2003 to 2011. He has also held the presidency of the G20 since 2023. He is currently a defender of the democratic left, becoming increasingly disenchanted with increasingly authoritarian left-wing regimes, suggesting mediation in crises such as the Venezuelan protests of 2024 or the release of Nicaraguan bishop Rolando Alvarez. He is also a friend of Vladimir Putin, whose government is considered tyrannical because they share membership in the BRICS.
Of humble origins, Lula was a metalworker and trade unionist and in the mid-1980s. He held the presidency of the metalworkers' union where Lula was the main leader of a strike that lasted 41 days. He was one of the main organizers of the largest strikes during the military dictatorship, which put the regime in check and accelerated its fall. A candidate for the presidency of Brazil on several occasions, in 1989, 1994 and 1998, it was not until 2002 that he managed to win. During his eight years as president of Brazil, he made reforms and radical changes that produced the social and economic transformation of Brazil, which tripled its GDP per capita according to the World Bank, 3 to the point of turning the Republic into a world power. He is widely recognized as a figure of his time67 and his government is considered to have been key to his country's economic successes, particularly in terms of poverty reduction, 8 with social programs such as Zero Hunger or Bolsa Familia, which helped lift some 30 million people out of poverty in less than a decade; 9 when Lula left the presidency, 52 million people (27% of the population) benefited from Bolsa Familia. On the international level, he played a prominent role in issues such as Iran's nuclear program and debates on climate change. Lula left the presidency with great popularity, both in Brazil, with more than 80% approval, and in the rest of the world.