Lula Is Working to Revive Brazil's Democracy Against a Powerful Far-Right Bloc

Last edited Mon May 8, 2023, 03:10 AM - Edit history (1)

Since taking office as president, Lula has had to navigate a treacherous path, facing a powerful ultraconservative bloc in Brazil’s national congress. The job of repairing state capacity while avoiding an economic downturn will test his skills to the limit.

By Olavo Passos De Souza
May 7, 2023Z
11 Mins Read

Ever since taking office four months ago, Brazil’s President Luis Inácio Lula da Silva, more commonly known as Lula, has faced the arduous task of rebuilding the country’s institutions, as well as its international image, following the chaotic Bolsonaro administration.

So far, this challenge has generated a mixed bag of successes and failures, with a number of stumbles that have tested Lula’s reputation as a political “miracle worker.” With issues ranging from a conservative-dominated Congress to an antagonistic central bank, the seventy-seven-year-old former union leader is finding governing a harder task than ever as he sets about his third term as president.

Good Old Days
Lula campaigned mostly on the idea of a return to more prosperous days for Brazil — particularly those of his previous administration. Having left office in 2010 with record-high approval ratings, Lula now relied on voters remembering the 2000s, when Brazil had a strong economy and a rapidly growing middle class that was partly a product of his government’s social policies, as well as favorable international relations with both China and the United States.

After winning his third term by a narrow margin last year, Lula tried to carry this idea that “happy days are here again” into his administration. “Brazil is back,” he proclaimed in his inaugural speech. It was at the same time a promise to the world and a condemnation of the past four years of Jair Bolsonaro.

Lula’s rhetoric to date has been consistent with this view. His focus on growing the economy, increasing social spending, and rebuilding Brazil’s diplomatic standing come right off his 2000s playbook. However, the president has been forced to confront the fact that Brazil and the world are both in radically different situations than the ones he faced on first taking the presidential seat in 2003.

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