Brazil president to receive unprecedented honour at opening night of procession with a giant effigy of him
He is a giant of Brazilian politics and soon he will become a giant of Brazilian carnival too: a 22-metre metal figurine, to be precise.
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who rose from rural poverty to become his country’s first working class president, is to receive an unprecedented tribute at the opening night of Rio’s annual carnival procession on Sunday.
The samba school behind the homage – Acadêmicos de Niterói – has built its 2026 parade around President Lula’s extraordinary eight-decade life: from his deprived childhood in Brazil’s arid north-east, to his struggles as a boot polisher and factory worker in industrial São Paulo, to his three presidential terms in the capital, Brasília.
“The greatest Brazilian of all times … deserves to be celebrated on Brazil’s greatest stage,” said Fabiano Leitão, a leftwing trumpeter who is one of about 3,000 performers set to take part in the school’s parade.
