{"text":[[{"start":6.44,"text":"Few birthday cakes can have tasted quite as sweet as the one Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva enjoyed on Tuesday, when he turned 81."}],[{"start":15.4,"text":"Ahead of last Sunday’s run-off in Brazil, opinion polls gave him little chance and Lula was struggling to hide his contempt for Flávio Bolsonaro, his 45-year-old opponent. “Lying is the Bolsonaro family’s speciality,” he said at the final debate. If all political careers end in failure, Lula’s appeared to be closing on a particularly bitter note."}],[{"start":36.6,"text":"Instead, he pulled off one of the great comeback victories in modern democratic politics, winning by 52 per cent to 48 per cent. In the first round of voting in early October, he was 2.2mn votes behind Bolsonaro, an ally of US President Donald Trump; on Sunday, Lula won by 4.4mn votes."}],[{"start":57.68,"text":"The result cemented the former trade union leader’s position as a global icon of the left and provided a shot in the arm for opponents of the populist right. It has also placed a Brazil-sized obstacle in the way of Trump’s ambition for dominance in Latin America."}],[{"start":73.2,"text":"Ahead of the US midterm elections on Tuesday, some observers believe Lula’s win heralds a global shift. “Trumpism may be a waning influence in the world,” said Anthony Pereira, a professor of Latin American studies at Tulane University."}],[{"start":87.48,"text":"Lula admitted last year to not owning a mobile phone, but the electoral turnaround was driven in part by success in a digital world that has been dominated in recent years by the radical right. A lawmaker half his age, André Janones, created a WhatsApp channel called “Lula’s Army”, which drove both engagement and attendance at mass rallies."}],[{"start":106.8,"text":"Aided by Janones’s spiky energy and selfie videos from the candidate, it amassed close to 11mn followers — nearly 7 per cent of the electorate. Having begun his political career organising at factory gates in São Paulo, Lula ended his last campaign as the creator of viral social media content."}],[{"start":125.2,"text":"Andre Pagliarini, author of a biography of Lula, says a leader steeped in the politics of the 20th century learnt in recent weeks to adopt the tactics of the 21st century. “This election is his greatest triumph,” he says."}],[{"start":138.88,"text":"Lula has also had the good fortune to watch his rival undermine his own political standing. Under investigation for money laundering, Bolsonaro fled to the US on a private jet on Wednesday."}],[{"start":150.48,"text":"From Miami, he issued an extraordinary letter which claimed, without any evidence, that the election had been stolen and compared himself to France’s Charles de Gaulle, who set up a parallel government from wartime exile in London. (The first version of the letter referred to “Brazil” using the English spelling, rather than “Brasil” as it is spelled in Portuguese, a bad look for a would-be nationalist.)"}],[{"start":173.04,"text":"By describing himself as “the real president-elect”, Bolsonaro brought back the spectre of his father Jair, jailed last year for plotting a coup after he lost the 2022 election to Lula. Even close allies declined to back him. “Flávio is venting,” said Rogério Marinho, the senator who ran Bolsonaro’s campaign."}],[{"start":192.64,"text":"The past week is only one chapter in a remarkable life story that has taken Lula from extreme poverty in the arid north-east and a childhood job shining shoes to four terms as Brazil’s president."}],[{"start":204.58,"text":"In a catastrophic blunder in the final debate, Bolsonaro reminded the audience of Lula’s humble origins when he called him “nine fingers”, a reference to an accident in a metalworking factory when he was a teenager. “Either I worked or I did not eat,” Lula snapped back."}],[{"start":219.2,"text":"Pagliarini, who teaches at Louisiana State University, says the exchange helped the campaign “shift from treating Lula’s life story as a monument to something that is relatable”."}],[{"start":229.76,"text":"If Lula’s back story is pure Hollywood, his record in office is more complicated. His first two terms, from 2003 to 2010, were one of the most successful periods in Brazil’s modern history, the economy propelled by a commodities boom. Lula expanded social programmes, lifting millions out of poverty."}],[{"start":246.64,"text":"However, policies he adopted towards the end and continued by his handpicked successor Dilma Rousseff helped cause one of the deepest recessions on record."}],[{"start":255.6,"text":"At the same time, Lula’s Workers’ Party was at the centre of a multibillion-dollar corruption scandal involving kickbacks at state-owned companies. Starting in 2018, Lula spent 580 days in jail for corruption, although the conviction was later annulled by the Supreme Court."}],[{"start":272.94,"text":"At a birthday party on Tuesday, Lula used the experience to mock Bolsonaro for fleeing the country. “I decided to turn myself in to the federal police because I wanted to expose my accusers and prove my innocence,” he said."}],[{"start":286.24,"text":"Returning to office in 2023, his third term produced solid income gains and low unemployment at the expense of high deficits and rising debt levels."}],[{"start":295.66,"text":"After his surprise fourth victory, Brazilian shares fell 14 per cent on Monday — a warning about a potential crisis of confidence in the markets."}],[{"start":303.56,"text":"Politically, this week’s events present an opportunity. With Bolsonaro isolated, Lula has a chance to split the right. But he will need all the skills harnessed in more than five decades of public life. Bolsonaro loyalists will be desperate for revenge. And the Trump administration may be keen to discredit Brazil’s democratic credentials."}],[{"start":322.92,"text":"“After the great excitement, Lula’s camp should not kid themselves,” says Pagliarini. “The fourth term is going to be a struggle.”"}],[{"start":331.4,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1793417219_5817.mp3"}