Obama: Lula da Silva has ‘made Brazil prosperous’
Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has continued to rule out running for a third term as the South American country’s leader in recent weeks, reiterating that he will not change the constitution to keep himself at the helm.
The charismatic leader remains extremely popular with Brazilians, continually receiving high approval ratings.
Next year the country will elect a new president and Mr Lula da Silva insists that it will not be him, although he will be hoping that his chosen successor, Dilma Rousseff, will be in charge in his stead.
The election of Ms Rousseff would be historic, as she would become the first woman leading the South American country, just as Mr Lula da Silva became Brazil’s working class leader, coming from a poor background.
His rags to riches tale is likely to have made aided his popularity. The seventh child of a broken family, he could not read until he was ten years old and lost a finger as a young man when working in factory.
From a background in the trade unions, he created the left-wing, progressive Workers’ Party, bringing together intellectuals and trade unionists to form the first major socialist party in the country’s history.
Mr Lula da Silva laid out his aims to boost economic growth and place Brazil among the leading developed nations as well as reducing inequality.
The latest major step towards enhancing the country’s financial status was the first ever summit of the so-called Bric countries – Brazil, Russia, India and China.
Together, these nations represent around 40 per cent of the world’s population and 15 per cent of global gross domestic product, as well as being responsible for 65 per cent of total economic growth across the world.
The aim of the summit earlier this month was to better integrate the four countries in the international economic arena, including drawing up agreed policies for tackling the global financial crisis ahead of the next G20 summit in the US in September.
Brazil will host the next meeting of the four nations, whose leaders jointly called for “greater voice and representation in international financial institutions” following this year’s historic assembly.
This time, President Lula da Silva was lending his voice to a collaborative statement, but it is an appeal that he has made repeatedly during his tenure as leader of Brazil.
He has also made strident efforts in foreign policy, continually making state visits in an attempt to help firms back in Brazil.
“In business, we have to find new partners and find opportunities that exist. We’ve been doing this for six years already and the result has been extraordinary,” Mr Lula da Silva told Reuters recently.
He seems to have secured the support of other leaders of major global nations.
President Obama has continued to heap praise on Mr Lula da Silva since their first official heads of state meeting in Washington back in March.
After referring to him as “my man” at the G20 summit in April, Mr Obama recently commended his foreign policy and domestic administration.
“President Lula da Silva came up through the trade union movement, he was perceived as a strong leftist.
“Turns out, he was a very practical person who maintains relationships across the political spectrum in Latin America and has instituted all sorts of market reforms that have made Brazil prosperous,” President Obama said.
