Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (born 6October 1945, but registered with a date ofbirth of 27 October 1945), known popularlyas Lula, is the thirty-fifth and currentPresident of Brazil.
A founding member of the Workers’
Party (PT—Partido dos Trabalhadores), heran for President three times unsuccessfully,first in the 1989 election. Lula achievedvictory in 2002, and was inaugurated asPresident on 1 January 2003. In the 2006election he was re-elected for a second term as President ending on 1January 2011.
His government, as well as his re-election, is one of the mostcontroversial and popular of all politics of Brazil. Social programs likeBolsa Família and Fome Zero are hallmarks of his administration.
However, Lula has designed internationally and interfered on importantand recent policy decisions such as the Nuclear program of Iran and globalwarming and has been described as “a man with audacious ambitions toalter the balance of power among nations”. He is featured in Time’s The 100Most Influential People in the World for 2010.
Corruption scandals and controversyLula抯 administration has been plagued by corruption scandals,most notably the Mensal鉶 and Sanguessugas scandals, in his first term.
Although the independent office of the Brazilian Attorney-General presentedcharges against 40 politicians and officials involved in the Mensal鉶 affair,no charges have ever been presented against Lula himself, and top officialsinvolved, such as Roberto Jefferson, Jos?Dirceu, Luiz Gushiken andHumberto Costa, denied he was aware of any wrongdoing. Having lostnumerous government aides in the face of political turmoil, Lula has comelargely unscathed in the eyes of the public, with overwhelming approvalrates.
His administration has been heavily criticized for relying on localpolitical barons, like Jos?Sarney, JaderBarbalho, Renan Calheiros and FernandoCollor, to ensure a majority in Congress. Helost some important votes there, though, forexample when the Senate barred the financialtax from being reinstated. Another frequentreproach relates to his ambiguous treatmentof the left wing in the Workers?Party. Analystsfear that he occasionally gives in to their wishesfor 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 whichwould overhaul funding for electronic communications. Both proposalsultimately failed amid concerns that they would lead to excessive stateintervention over free speech. Fernando Cardoso, Lula’s predecessor as thepresident of Brazil, has accused Lula of denying any positive achievementsallegedly made by the Cardoso administration.
