Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (born October 27, 1945) is a Brazilian politician and former trade union leader currently serving as the 39th President of Brazil since 1 January 2023. He previously served as the 35th President of Brazil from 1 January 2003 to 31 December 2010. The Brazilian Supreme Court in 2021 overturned Lula's convictions for corruption because he had not received a fair trial.

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Quotes

1975–2002

• Look, my friend. I don't speak the language here, I've got no money, the food stinks, there's no rice, no beans. I'd rather be arrested in Brazil than stay in this dump of a country.
  • Lula da Silva (1975), Cited in: Emir Sader, ‎Ken Silverstein (1991) Without Fear of Being Happy. p. 41
  • After being advised to stay in the United States when his brother was arrested in Brazil as a communist subversive.

2003–2010

• Brazil has rediscovered itself, and this rediscovery is being expressed in its people's enthusiasm and their desire to mobilize to face the huge problems that lie ahead of us.
  • 'Dialogue with the President of Brazil on Global Governance' at the 'Annual Meeting 2003' of the World Economic Forum (January 26, 2003).

• I am the son of an illiterate father and mother.
  • In: Speech published at villagemagazine.ie (August 2005)

• Brazil is in a solid position. In the past, if the United States sneezed, we caught pneumonia. Today, if the United States sneezes, we sneeze too.
  • "Interview transcript: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in: Financial Times (July 7, 2006)

• The foundation is in place, and now we have to get to work.
  • "Profile: Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva" BBC News (October 29, 2006)
  • About his second term as president

• From an ethical point of view the price difference is grotesque and from a political point of view, it represents a lack of respect, as though a sick Brazilian is inferior.
  • "Brazil to break Aids drug patent", BBC News (May 4, 2007)

• If the US is the country that most contributes with greenhouse gases, in the world, it should assume more responsibility to reduce emissions.
  • "Brazil rejects Bush move on climate change talks" The Guardian (May 31, 2007).

• A long time ago I learned not to put the blame for backwardness in Brazil on the US. We have to blame ourselves. Our backwardness is caused by an elite which for a century didn't think about the majority and subordinated itself to foreign interests.
  • "Brazil rejects Bush move on climate change talks" The Guardian (May 31, 2007).

• This is a crisis that was caused by people, white with blue eyes. And before the crisis they looked as if they knew everything about economics.
  • Andrew Grice "Financial crisis 'caused by white men with blue eyes", The Independent (March 27, 2009)
  • At a 2009 G-20 London Summit in March 2009.

• I want to know if the people are in the shit and I want to take the people out of the shit in which they are." – during a speech in São Luís, the capital of the Brazilian state of Maranhão. After recognizing he cursed, he stated: "Of course I cursed. Tomorrow, commentators of the major newspapers will say that Lula cursed, but I'm aware that they curse more than I do everyday, and I'm aware of how the poor people of this country live.
  • "Quero tirar o povo da merda", diz Lula; watch, folha.uol.com, (10 December 2009)

2016–2021

• If there is something which I am proud, in this country, it is that there is no living soul more honest than me. Not even in the Federal Police, not even in the Public Ministry, not even in the Catholic Church, not even in the evangelical church. There may be just as equal, but I doubt it.
  • Testimony to the Federal Police regarding the "Lava-jato Operation" investigation.‘Não tem uma viva alma mais honesta do que eu’, afirma Lula at estadao.com.br (January 20, 2016)

• What we can’t have is this country being run governed by a bunch of lunatics. The country doesn’t deserve this and above all the people do not deserve this. Brazil is adrift - so far he doesn’t know what to do.
• Does anyone really think the US is going to favour Brazil? [...] Americans think of themselves first, second, third, fourth, fifth – and if there’s any time left over they think about Americans. And these Brazilian lackeys go around thinking the Americans will do anything for us.
  • "Brazil governed by ‘lunatics’ and US ‘lackeys’, says ex-president Lula" The Guardian (April 27, 2019)
  • The first comment refers to the government of Jair Bolsonaro who entered office the previous January.

2022

• [Q:] So Volodomyr Zelensky should have talked to Putin more, even with 100,000 Russian troops at his border?
  [A:] I don’t know the President of Ukraine. But his behavior is a bit weird. It seems like he’s part of the spectacle. He is on television morning, noon, and night. He is in the U.K. parliament, the German parliament, the French parliament, the Italian parliament, as if he were waging a political campaign. He should be at the negotiating table.
  [Q:] Can you really say that to Zelensky? He didn’t want a war, it came to him.
  [A:] He did want war. If he didn’t want war, he would have negotiated a little more. That’s it. I criticized Putin when I was in Mexico City [in March], saying that it was a mistake to invade. But I don’t think anyone is trying to help create peace. People are stimulating hate against Putin. That won’t solve things! We need to reach an agreement. But people are encouraging [the war]. You are encouraging this guy [Zelensky], and then he thinks he is the cherry on your cake. We should be having a serious conversation: "OK, you were a nice comedian. But let us not make war for you to show up on TV." And we should say to Putin: "You have a lot of weapons, but you don’t need to use them on Ukraine. Let’s talk!"
  • Interview by Ciara Nugent "Lula Talks to TIME About Ukraine, Bolsonaro, and Brazil's Fragile Democracy" Time (4 May 2022)

• How can the world’s largest economic power say that it has no milk for children after President Biden announced $40 billion to buy arms meant for the war in Ukraine? (During his presidential campaign in 2022)
  ... Zelensky is as responsible as Putin for the war. Because in the war, there’s not just one person guilty... (in an interview with Time magazine May 2022)
  If I win the election we will make an effort for dialogue to establish peace again. We are not interested in any type of war (tweeted in August 2022)
  The only position that interests Brazil in terms of the question of Ukraine and Russia is peace. The time of war is the time of destruction. The world needs peace, addressing the issue of the climate, and ending hunger. (Tweeted in October 2022)
  • Quoted by/in: Ben Norton, Latin America refuses to send Ukraine weapons, despite Western pressure, Geo Political Economy Report, (29 January 2023)

2023

• Every night I ask myself why all countries have to base their trade on the dollar. Why can't we do based on our own currencies? Who was it that decided that the dollar was the currency after the disappearance of the gold standard?
  • "Speech by Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva at the inauguration ceremony of Dilma Rousseff as President of the The New Development Bank (NDB)", (13 April 2023)
• Brazil condemns Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
  • "Speech by Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva at dinner ceremony with King Felipe VI of Spain", (26 April 2023)

Quotes about

• Lula’s presidency with its historically diverse cabinet opens the door to progressive change, to challenge the rising global tide of authoritarianism and fascism.
  • Amy Goodman & Denis Moynihan "Brazil Has a New President, and a Renewed Chance to Save the Amazon" (January 5, 2023)

• Germany announced on January 25 that it would send tanks to Ukraine, in a significant escalation of the NATO proxy war against Russia. Berlin subsequently asked Brazil to ship tank munitions to Kiev. But newly inaugurated left-wing President Lula da Silva declined to do so. Lula was a co-founder of the BRICS bloc, consisting of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. He has long called for a multipolar world, and supports South-South cooperation and regional integration. Lula has denounced Western governments for ramping up the violence in Ukraine instead of encouraging peace negotiations.
  • Ben Norton, Latin America refuses to send Ukraine weapons, despite Western pressure, Geo Political Economy Report, (29 January 2023)

• That's my man right there, the most popular politician on earth.
  • Barack Obama, at the G20 summit in London, (2 April 2009)

• as I glanced around the table on the summit's second day, I couldn't help but wonder how a larger role for the BRICS in global governance might play out. Brazil's president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, for example, had visited the Oval Office in March, and I'd found him impressive. A grizzled, engaging former labor leader who'd been jailed for protesting the previous military government and then elected in 2002, he had initiated a series of pragmatic reforms that sent Brazil's growth rate soaring, expanded its middle class, and provided housing and education to millions of its poorest citizens. He also reportedly had the scruples of a Tammany Hall boss, and rumors swirled about government cronyism, sweetheart deals, and kickbacks that ran into the billions.
  • Barack Obama A Promised Land (2020)