Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (born 27 October 1945), popularly known simply as Lula, is a Brazilian politician and former union leader who served as the 35th President of Brazil from 1 January 2003 to 31 December 2010. A popular and ambitious politician, he is currently serving a 12 year prison sentence for numerous corruption charges. Lula was a founding member of the Workers' Party (PT) and ran unsuccessfully for President three times before achieving victory in the 2002 election, being re-elected in the 2006 election. The introduction of social programs such as Bolsa Família and Fome Zero were hallmarks of his time in office. As President, Lula played a prominent role in international matters including activities related to the nuclear program of Iran and global warming, being described as "a man with audacious ambitions to alter the balance of power among nations". Succeeded by his former Chief of Staff, Dilma Rousseff, he left an enduring mark on Brazilian politics in the form of Lulism. However, during Brazil's Operation Car Wash corruption investigations he was sentenced to 12 years in prison and jailed on 7 April 2018 on charges of money laundering and passive corruption. He is the fifth President of Brazil who has ever gone to jail and the first to be arrested for corruption. Lula has been called one of the most popular politicians in the history of Brazil and while in office was one of the most popular in the world. He was featured in Time 's 2010 The 100 Most Influential People in the World and Perry Anderson called him "the most successful politician of his time". In October 2011, Lula, who was a smoker for 40 years, was diagnosed with throat cancer and underwent chemotherapy, leading to a successful recovery. In early 2016, Lula was appointed Chief of Staff under Rousseff, but Justice Gilmar Mendes of the Supreme Federal Court blocked the appointment due to ongoing federal investigations. On 12 July 2017, Lula was convicted of money laundering and passive corruption, defined in Brazilian criminal law as the receipt of a bribe by a civil servant or government official. Lula was sentenced to nine years and six months in prison by judge Sérgio Moro, but he remained free pending an appeal of the sentence. On 24 January 2018, the Regional Federal Court of the 4th Region, which is a panel of three appellate judges, unanimously upheld Moro's ruling against Lula and increased the sentence to 12 years. On 5 April 2018, the Supreme Federal Court voted to reject Lula's habeas corpus plea and on the same day a warrant was issued for his arrest. He turned himself in and began serving his sentence on 7 April 2018. Lula announced his candidacy for the 2018 presidential election, but he was disqualified from running under Brazil's Clean Slate Law by the Superior Electoral Court on 31 August 2018 and was replaced by Fernando Haddad on 11 September 2018. The United Nations Human Rights Committee requested that the Brazilian government allow Lula to exercise his political rights as a presidential candidate. Prior to being barred, Lula led all scenarios in polls for the October election, achieving 39 percent in voter intentions within one month of the first round.