Brazil's leftist leader Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva returns to power on Jan. 1.
Who is #Lula? And what might his return to the presidency mean for low-income people in Brazil, Amazon deforestation and even Palestinian statehood? 🧵
Lula first came to power in 2003, after decades as a union organizer.
The son of farmers, he was a metal worker by 14.
His first presidency's social welfare programs lifted millions from poverty, targeting high-poverty groups, farmers and Indigenous/Afro-Brazilian communities.
Poverty fell 55% when Lula's Workers' Party controlled Brazil from 2003-2016: from about 22 million people in poverty to under 10 million.
By the end of Jair Bolsonaro's 2019-2022 term, the poverty rate skyrocketed — from 4.8% when the Workers' Party left power to almost 30%.
Lula has long championed Palestinian rights: One of his last acts in office in 2010 was to recognize Palestine as a state.
While the U.S. and most of Europe still resist recognition of Palestinian statehood, Lula's move was quickly followed by more Latin American nations.
Lula pledged to aim for "zero deforestation" of the Amazon, saying: "There is no climate security for the world without a protected Amazon."
Rainforest destruction skyrocketed under President Bolsonaro:
The Amazon lost over 8.4 million acres — an area bigger than Belgium.
Amazon deforestation reached historic lows under Lula's first presidency.
He vowed to reverse Bolsonaro polices that:
▪️ saw Amazon destruction rise 75%
▪️ gutted the environmental budget
▪️ saw a 500% surge in illegal mining
▪️ would destroy 2.5M more acres of Indigenous land
Attacks on Indigenous people skyrocketed under Brazil's President Bolsonaro:
▪️ murders of Indigenous people hit record levels, with 182 in 2020
▪️ invasions of Indigenous lands tripled
▪️ 20,000+ illegal miners, linked to violent attacks, reported on Yanomami lands alone
#Lula has said reducing poverty in Brazil is a top priority — through tax reform, expanded welfare and raising the minimum wage.
In Brazil in 2022:
▪️ 100 million people were in poverty
▪️ 33 million faced acute hunger
President Bolsonaro called widespread hunger "a big lie."
Brazil is one of the most unequal places on Earth today:
An average white worker makes almost 2x the average Afro-Latino worker.
The 1% of richest Brazilians (mostly white) control almost 30% of the country's entire wealth — more than all Afro-Brazilian women put together.
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