translated from Spanish: Lula Da Silva turns 75 today

Luis Inacio Da Silva, better known as “Lula” was born on October 27, 1945 was the 35th president of Brazil, on January 1, 2003 assumed the presidency of the country carioca.  In the 2006 elections he won again at the polls and won a second term as president, which ended on 31 December 2010. He is remembered as the most popular and beloved representative by the Brazilian community. 

My founding member and honorary president of the Workers’ Party (PT).  Lula comes from the lower class and of humble origin.  He was a metalworker and trade unionist, and in the mid-1980s held the presidency of the metallurgy workers’ union. He is also one of the main organizers of the biggest strikes during the military dictatorship. In 2011 after being a smoker for 40 years he was diagnosed with throat cancer that thanks to chemotherapy treatment was able to overcome the disease and resume its functions. In March 2016, amid the Petrobras corruption scandal and 11 days after his arrest for questioning for his alleged involvement, he was appointed Minister of the Civil House by the government of Dilma Rousseff, something seen by his detractors as a way to obtain judicial immunity. The appointment was suspended by a federal judge.

On July 12, 2017, Lula was sentenced in the first instance to nine years and six months in prison by Judge Sérgio Moro, the first time in Brazil’s history that a former president was convicted of passive corruption. Lula turned himself in on April 7, 2018, and on November 8, 2019, while serving his sentence, brazil’s Supreme Court decided that Lula da Silva’s imprisonment, convicted only in the second instance, had been unconstitutional. The Court gave the order to release him immediately.
Lula left the presidency with great popularity, both in Brazil, with more than 80% approval, and in the rest of the world.

He was recognized as “doctor honoris causa” by the Universidad Andina Simón Bolívar and by the Polytechnic Higher School of the Littoral in an event held in the Chapter Hall of the Convent of San Agustín in Quito (capital of the Republic of Ecuador). And the University of Salamaca, Spain.

He also obtained Citizenship of Honor in Paris for his commitment to reducing “social and economic inequalities” and “racial discrimination” in his country. For this and much more we wish you a Happy Birthday. 

Original source in Spanish