Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) (AFP) – Shirtless and sweating on his treadmill, he runs, Lula, he runs. Almost 81 years old, he wants to show that he has the energy to still preside over Brazil.

Published on: 02/10/2026 - 12:24

“We cannot stop the Earth from turning and the years from passing,” philosophers Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva hoarsely, in one of the videos where he stages his physical exercises on social networks.

After 12 years in power, the man of the people who became a statesman is seeking a fourth and final term. The first round of the presidential election is scheduled for Sunday.

He survived defeats, survived prison - 580 days in 2018-2019 - and a conviction for corruption. Canceled for procedural reasons and because of the judge's bias, it still arouses "Lula thief" chatter on the right.

The champion of the left also survived health problems. According to his doctor, he came close to “the worst” at the end of 2024 due to a hemorrhage near the brain, the result of a fall.

After suffering from skin cancer, for several months he has been wearing a panama hat on his once black and coarse hair, now gray and thinning, just like his emblematic beard.

But he swears: he feels fitter than ever. And wants to “live to be 120”.

"Epic"

Launched into his last battle, he does not miss an opportunity to highlight his biography - his "epic trajectory", says his ex-minister Fernando Haddad, a close friend.

Lula was born on October 27, 1945 into a family of poor farmers in Pernambuco (north-east).

Fleeing hunger, his family settled in the industrial region of Sao Paulo (south-east). A worker at 14 - he lost a finger in the factory - he became a union leader and led major strikes at the end of the 1970s, in the midst of a military dictatorship.

After three unsuccessful candidacies, the former metalworker entered the presidential palace in Brasilia in 2003.

Re-elected in 2006, he left power with popularity at its peak, driven by social programs financed by the boom in raw materials. And with an international aura as a leader of the South and defender of multilateralism.

But the huge corruption scandals that have hit his camp are leaving deep scars, fueling the polarization of the political scene.

Without cell phone

In 2022, Lula narrowly wins against the outgoing Jair Bolsonaro. The leader of the far right will later be sentenced to prison for attempted coup d'état against his assassin.

Back in business, the eternal boss of the Workers' Party initially seems out of step with a Brazil that he seems to be rediscovering: at loggerheads and saturated with disinformation.

As a symbol, he persists in living without a cell phone, while his 213 million fellow citizens are massively connected.

He is credited with having restored the social policies damaged by his predecessor, and curbing the devastation of the Amazon.

His third term, however, has the air of a remake, with hardly any new ideas, just like his campaign for a fourth lease.

As a confession, this father of five children recently said that he did not want to “just be the president of Bolsa Familia”. This allocation to the poorest households remains his most notable legacy - but is more than 20 years old.

Too many matches?

Why does this fanatical supporter of Corinthians, a football club from Sao Paulo, take the risk of one match too many?

Lula, who was careful not to push an heir, explains that he intends to prevent the extreme right from returning to "destroy" the leading power in Latin America.

Son of his best enemy, his rival Flavio Bolsonaro is eager to turn the page: “When we look at Lula, we don’t see a future.”

“He is in great shape,” however, a foreign diplomat told AFP on condition of anonymity, impressed by the vitality of the Brazilian president.

According to the person concerned, his third wife, Rosangela da Silva, known as “Janja”, had something to do with it. This 60-year-old feminist is omnipresent and hits the mark with the progressive camp.

If he loses in October, Lula will exit through the back door. But his place in history is guaranteed: no other democratically elected president has ruled Brazil for so long.

He said it with quiet confidence in 2024 in front of foreign media, including AFP, in his residence in Alvorada: “There is no one in this country who has more experience as president than me.”

© 2026 AFP

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