Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) (AFP) – Shirtless and drenched in sweat on his treadmill, Lula runs.
Issued on: 02/08/2026 - 03:24
3 min Reading time
He keeps running.At 80, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the dominant figure in Brazilian politics for four decades, wants to show he still has the energy to win a fourth term in office in October's election."You can't stop the Earth from turning or the years from passing," Lula muses in his gravelly voice in one of the social media videos he shares showcasing his workouts.The leftist leader has survived electoral defeats, 580 days in prison, and the disgrace of a corruption conviction which, although later annulled, still prompts taunts from the right of "Lula the thief."He has also survived health scares, notably a fall in his bathroom in 2024 that caused a brain bleed. Since then, he often wears a Panama hat. His once thick black hair has greyed and thinned, much like his trademark beard.But he insists he feels fitter than ever and he dreams of "living to 120."Long shadow of corruptionLula grew up in deep poverty, the seventh of eight children born to a family of illiterate farmers in the arid northeastern state of Pernambuco.He worked as a shoeshine boy and peanut vendor before becoming a metalworker and trade unionist. In the 1960s, he lost a finger in a workplace accident.After losing three presidential bids, Lula finally entered the presidential palace in Brasilia in 2003 and was re-elected in 2006.
