Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva: The Man who gave new Hope to the Poor People of Brazil and the World.

He was born on 27 October 1945 in Caetes, a remote and backward region in north east of Brazil. His parents were extremely poor hence he could not even think of going to a school what to talk of getting good quality education. As soon as he was about seven years of age, his parents bought a tin of shoe polish and a shoe brush, gave to their son and told him to go to the city and earn the livelihood. He would roam in the city, shine the shoes of the people and earn a few coins. He was called ‘Lula’, a name that remains tagged with him till today. He sold the peanuts and worked in a steel mill.

Lula did not have an aptitude for studies. Rather his committed schedule of ten to twelve hours of physical labor would not support his metal concentration. However he did not waste his skill of reading and writing and used it to study various books on socialism. He was impressed with the Marxist philosophy; he assembled the workers and started the political career aiming at the protection of the labor rights. At the age of 19 he lost his finger while working in an automobile factory. He could not easily get the medical aid. This bad experience provided an impetus to his quest for the fight against exploitation and oppression of workers. He was the first politician who set himself to struggle for the labor rights. In short span of time a large number of workers and peasants rallied around him. Encouraged by this he launched his own political party in 1980.

Lula da Silva was of the opinion that unless the government comes in the hands of the workers, no change can take place. He contested the presidential election thrice but lost. However in October 2002 he was elected with heavy mandate. He got 61 % votes; the largest in Brazilian history. This is how a man who spent his childhood, youth and the middle age in sheer poverty and did not possess any school, college or university degree, became the president of the 9th largest economy of the world.

Lula has given a new hope not only to the poor segments of Brazilian society but to the world as a whole. He has proved beyond doubt that a person like him can also become the head of a state with sheer hard work and dedication to the cause. Lula had chosen the cause of rights of the workers and the peasants. He knew that once the rights of the poor are protected, the society will attain peace. And once the peace prevails in a country, it can progress at a rapid pace.