Independent documentary archive
Lula, President of Brazil: his life and governments, with a source for every claim
Biography, programs, indicators, speeches and international recognition of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, President of Brazil. The maintainers support Lula, and say so openly. Facts come with the document, date and institution, so anyone can check them.
Lula climbs the ramp of the Planalto Palace accompanied by representatives of the Brazilian people, on January 1, 2023. Photo: Ricardo Stuckert/PR, CC BY 2.0.
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Where to start
Learn about his life and career
From his origins in Pernambuco to the presidency, in stages, with the source for each fact.
Explore programs
36 programs and policies, showing what was created, expanded, resumed or inherited in each government.
Look up results
10 indicators drawn from official series, without splicing different surveys and without attributing cause on their own.
Read speeches
13 recorded speeches, with the official text and the video when available.
See the international gallery
Photos of Lula with heads of state and at summits, with the source caption and credit for each image.
Explore his international record
26 recognitions from foreign institutions and 5 international initiatives, in addition to his participation at the UN.
By government
First term (2003 to 2006)
First government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Second term (2007 to 2010)
Second government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Third term (since 2023)
Third government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, ongoing. Covered up to the cutoff date indicated on each page.
Documented programs
Logo: Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, public domain Market openings for Brazilian agricultural products (sanitary and phytosanitary negotiations of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock)
Continued under Lula · Third term (since 2023)
Sanitary requirements of importing countries that must be met for the export of Brazilian agricultural products.
Logo: WhiteTimberwolf, original flags: Mysid, template: TheMexicanGentleman, public domain Mercosur trade agreements with partners outside the region (India, Israel, SACU, Egypt, Palestine, Singapore, European Union, and EFTA)
Trade conditions between Mercosur and India, Israel, the Southern African Customs Union (SACU), Egypt, Palestine, Singapore, the European Union, and the EFTA states, negotiated in preferential trade agreements and free trade agreements.
Logo: Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty, official logo Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty
Created under Lula · Third term (since 2023)
Hunger and poverty. Upon receiving the G20 presidency in New Delhi on September 10, 2023, President Lula announced that the Brazilian presidency would create two task forces, one of them the Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty.
Logo: Federal Government of Brazil, public domain Bolsa Família Program
Merged earlier initiatives · First term (2003 to 2006); Resumed under Lula · Third term (since 2023); Reshaped under Lula · Third term (since 2023)
Poverty and extreme poverty, with federal income transfer actions divided among separate programs, such as Bolsa Escola, Bolsa Alimentação, Auxílio-Gás, and the PNAA.
Logo: Ministry of Development and Social Assistance, Family and Fight against Hunger, public domain Brasil Sem Fome Plan (Brazil Without Hunger)
Created under Lula · Third term (since 2023)
Hunger and food insecurity.
Logo: Ministry of Health, public domain Brasil Sorridente: National Oral Health Policy
Reshaped under Lula · First term (2003 to 2006); Reshaped under Lula · Third term (since 2023)
Oral health care in the SUS. The guidelines of the National Oral Health Policy were published by the Ministry of Health in 2004; in 2023, Law No. 14,572, which according to Senator Jussara Lima arose from a bill by Senator Humberto Costa, instituted the policy in the SUS and included oral health in the SUS's field of action in Law 8,080/1990.
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Indicators
Business openings and births
558,608.0 → 733,585.0 businesses (2008 to 2010, Brazil)
First available year of the series in SIDRA (2008) and last full year of the second term (2010), in the same series. It covers only part of the second term: the series does not have 2002 to 2007 in SIDRA.
Source: IBGE, Business Demography and Entrepreneurship Statistics (Cempre). Change observed in the series; on its own it does not indicate cause.
Deforestation in the Legal Amazon (PRODES)
21,650.0 → 7,000.0 km² (2002 to 2010, Legal Amazon (9 states))
Last year before the first term (2002) and last full year of the second (2010), in the same series. The PRODES year ends in July.
Source: INPE, PRODES Project. Change observed in the series; on its own it does not indicate cause.
Unemployment rate
12.4 → 6.7 % of the labor force (2003 to 2010, See each series)
First year of the PME series (2003) and last full year of the second term (2010). The annual PME does not have 2002 in this table.
Source: IBGE, Monthly Employment Survey (discontinued). Change observed in the series; on its own it does not indicate cause.
Income inequality (Gini index)
0.589 → 0.543 index (0 to 1) (2002 to 2009, Brazil)
Last year before the first term (2002) and last year available within the second (2009; the PNAD was not carried out in 2010, a Census year).
Source: IBGE, Annual PNAD; Ipea calculation (Ipeadata). Change observed in the series; on its own it does not indicate cause.
Lula at the UN
- September 23, 2003: UN General Assembly General Debate
- September 21, 2004: UN General Assembly General Debate
- September 19, 2006: UN General Assembly General Debate
- September 25, 2007: UN General Assembly General Debate
- September 23, 2008: UN General Assembly General Debate
- September 23, 2009: UN General Assembly General Debate
- September 19, 2023: UN General Assembly General Debate
- September 24, 2024: UN General Assembly General Debate
- September 23, 2025: UN General Assembly General Debate
- September 22, 2026: UN General Assembly General Debate
International recognition
- Lifting Families Out of Poverty in Brazil - Bolsa Familia Program (2010)
- Citoyenneté d'honneur de la Ville de Paris (2020)
- FAO Agricola Medal (2005)
- FAO recognition of countries meeting anti-hunger targets for 2015 (MDG 1) (2013)
- The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2014: section on Brazil (2014)
- Doctor Honoris Causa from the Faculty of Law of the University of Coimbra (2011)
By area
Questions people ask about Lula
Who is Lula?
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was born on October 27, 1945, in Garanhuns, Pernambuco, according to the biography published by the Chamber of Deputies and the official biography published by the Planalto.[1]
He held the Presidency of the Republic between January 1, 2003 and January 1, 2011, when he handed the office over to his successor, according to Agência Senado and the Planalto; the Chamber of Deputies biography lists, among his offices outside the Chamber, his terms as President of the Republic for the PT from 2003 to 2011 and from 2023 onward.[2]
On January 1, 2023, the National Congress swore in Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, in a ceremony in the Plenary of the Chamber of Deputies, in which Vice President Geraldo Alckmin was also sworn in; Agência Senado describes him as the 39th president of Brazil and the first head of the federal Executive to win three victories in direct elections.[3]
When did Lula become President of Brazil?
In 2002 he was elected President of the Republic with 52,793,364 votes, according to the TSE; the Planalto records the date as October 27, 2002 and Senator José Alencar, of the PL of Minas Gerais, as the vice-presidential candidate on the ticket.[4]
In 2006 he was reelected with 58,295,042 votes, according to the TSE. According to Agência Senado, the reelection took place on October 29, in the second round, and his opponent was Geraldo Alckmin.[5]
In the second round of the 2022 General Elections, with all polling sections tallied, Lula, of the Brasil da Esperança Coalition, obtained 60,345,999 votes (50.90% of the valid votes), and Jair Bolsonaro received 58,206,354 votes (49.10%), according to the TSE.[6]
Why did Lula go to jail?
The Chamber of Deputies biography records that, for having led the ABC strikes, he spent 31 days in jail in 1980; the Planalto and Agência Senado also record 31 days in jail.[7]
From April 7, 2018, Lula was held at the Federal Police Superintendency in Curitiba, for the conviction in the Guarujá triplex case, according to Agência Brasil, the STJ, and the Planalto.[8]
According to Agência Brasil, judge Danilo Pereira Júnior, of the Federal Court in Curitiba, ordered Lula's release following a request by the defense based on the STF decision of the previous day, and Lula left the Federal Police holding facility in Curitiba the same day; the Planalto records the release on November 8, 2019, and Agência Brasil records 580 days in prison.[9]
Fachin's decision in HC 193726 annulled the decisions in four cases: the Guarujá triplex, the Sítio de Atibaia, the Instituto Lula headquarters, and donations to the Instituto Lula; the justice also declared 10 habeas corpus petitions and four complaints (reclamações) filed by the defense moot, among them the one challenging the bias of former judge Sergio Moro.[10]
On June 23, 2021, the STF Plenary, by seven votes to four, upheld the Second Panel decision that declared former judge Sergio Moro biased in the Guarujá triplex criminal case, so that the annulment of all his decisions in that case stood.[11]
What has Lula done for Brazil?
Programs and policies, government by governmentIndicators from official series
How we work
We distinguish what was created under Lula's governments from what was resumed, expanded or inherited; an announcement from a completed delivery; and an observed result from proof of cause. Series from different surveys are not spliced together. Errors are corrected in public.