Date: 19/10/2002
Nº of words: 220
“LULA” Biography by Jose 'Junior' Moreira
Luis Inacio da Silva was born in Pernambuco in 1945, but he inserted
the nickname “Lula” in 1982.
His father went to São
Paulo when he was a baby, but he and his family stayed in Pernambuco, then in
1952 they went to Guaruja in São Paulo and in 1956 they moved to São Paulo
capital. The life wasn’t good, but they were very happy because they had a job.
He started as a
shoeshine boy when he was 12 and in a formal job in industry when he was 14. In
1966 Lula started at the Villares company and in the same year he joined the
metal workers’ trade union. He got married to Maria Lourdes, but she and their
baby died in childbirth. In 1974 he got married to Marisa and they have three
sons.
In 1980 Lula and other people started the PT (Partido dos Trabalhadores), and in 1983 Lula participated in the creation the CUT (Central Única dos Trabalhadores), then the next year the PT started the movement called Civil Rights Now (Diretas Já). In 1986 he was the congressman that had the most votes in Brazil. In 1989, 1994, 1998 he disputed the election for President, but he lost all of them. The last few years, the PT has increased in size and in 2002 Lula is candidate for President again, but now he is more prepared than in other elections.