About Lula

Lula is a clinical, psychiatric phenomenon, an enigma worthy of a treatise on tropical realpolitik.

For Jones Manoel, he is the neoliberal manager of dependent capitalism, a kind of Paulo Guedes disguised as a union leader. But for Faria Lima, he is the ghost of communism materialized, ready to transform banks into soviet entities and debentures into Bolsa Família savings accounts.

In the midst of the spectacle, there's the delirious wing of PSOL—the one that, every ten years, thrashes about, tears its clothes, indignantly discovers that the world isn't an eternal assembly field, promises to break with everything… and in practice doesn't go anywhere. Performative revolt with an expiration date.

Meanwhile, Lula continues to apply the classic realpolitik playbook: he panders to agribusiness, holds the market by the collar, tries to secure some social programs on the other end, delivers public policy, and governs. Doing what he can, not always the best. 

The sophisticated left calls it betrayal. The market calls it a threat. And Lula? He calls it Wednesday.

In Brazil, the political center doesn't exist. What exists is a gravitational center of madness—and Lula orbiting it, impassive, leaving Jones and Faria Lima equally pissed off.