Brazil

Lula's rise from poverty to presidency was a tale made for cinema. However, his resurgence to Brazil's highest office after incarceration is testament to ...

Ultimately, it came down to the wire: da Silva was elected, for the third time, with 50.9% of the vote. It revitalized semi-dormant sentiment against the Workers' Party, and the fact that much of Brazil still holds da Silva in disdain is a key reason this year's contest between the two political titans grew ever closer. That sidelined him from the 2018 presidential race and cleared the way for Jair Bolsonaro, then a fringe lawmaker, to cruise to victory. The Supreme Court also started assessing the legality of his convictions, which it eventually annulled on the grounds that the presiding federal judge had been biased and colluded with prosecutors. Revelations of systemic kickbacks in exchange for government contracts were followed by a deep, two-year recession that many blamed on Rousseff's economic policies, and which turbocharged resentment of the Workers' Party. The life of da Silva has unfolded in such a unique, extraordinary way that it strains credulity. Commodities exports to China were surging, filling government coffers, and a vast welfare program lifted tens of millions of Brazilians into the middle class. Da Silva's mother was left alone to raise eight children, of whom little Lula was the youngest. Pressed for money, he became a metalworker at age 14 in the metropolis' gritty outskirts. "They tried to bury me alive, and I am here," da Silva said in a speech Sunday night after results that confirmed his third presidential win. He will also be putting his legacy on the line. Lula's rise from poverty to presidency was a tale made for cinema.