Lula puts Brazil economy back on the rails in first year of presidency
The Hindu
Under Lula, Brazil has seen a reduction in Amazon deforestation, economic wins, and improved foreign relations, but new challenges loom for the 78-year-old leader.
In the year since Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva returned to office, he has overseen a reduction in Amazon deforestation and some wins on the economic front.
However, new environmental and fiscal challenges are looming for the 78-year-old leader of Latin America’s biggest economy.
The leftist veteran Lula narrowly won the presidency from his far-right predecessor Jair Bolsonaro in a bitter election that deeply divided Brazil, leaving him no honeymoon period at the start of his third term in office.
A week after he was sworn in, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters invaded government buildings in the capital in January 8 riots.
“Lula has to face more challenges than during previous mandates. He had no grace period and faced a hostile parliament” dominated by the right, said Andre Rosa, a political scientist at the University of Brasilia.
Nevertheless, he managed to push through significant social aid programmes and the economy has been doing better than expected.
“We are coming to the end of the year in a very good situation, I would say exceptional even, when we know the state in which we found the country,” Mr. Lula said after his final Cabinet meeting for 2023.
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