Sao Bernardo do Campo, Brazil – By mid-morning, the bright August sun emerged from the clouds and illuminated the May 1 Stadium in the industrial city of Sao Bernardo do Campo, on the outskirts of Sao Paulo, Brazil. It was here, in 1979, that a bearded union leader from Brazil’s impoverished northeast stood on top of a borrowed bar table to address 60,000 striking metalworkers. The event came to symbolise a democratic awakening in defiance of the country’s military dictatorship.
Forty-seven years later – and after seven presidential bids, a spell in prison and three terms in the presidency – Brazil’s Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva returned to the spot where his political career began. Only this time, he was the president, and launching a campaign to seek an unprecedented fourth term in the country's top political office. On October 4, Brazilians will head to the polls to vote for their next leader.
If no candidate receives an outright majority, the race will proceed to a run-off. At age 80, this will likely be Lula's last dance. In a seeming wink to that fact, Lula walked onto the stadium's stage to the song Sirius, famous as the pregame anthem for the Chicago Bulls' last championship season.
If he wins, he will surpass his own record as the oldest elected president in Brazilian history.
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