On this day in 1945, the president of Brazil Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was born. He would go on to be one of the most influential and transformative Latin American mass movement leaders of the 20th and 21st centuries. Born in Garanhones, Pernambuco, one of the poorest states in northeastern Brazil. His childhood was shaped by the material conditions experienced by millions of Brazilian workers and peasants: rural poverty, insecure employment, hunger and the necessity of emigration in search of livelihood. His family moved to São Paulo as millions of Brazilians did in search of work in the major industrial centers. Lola started working at a young age, among other things as a shoe shiner, a delivery girl and an industrial worker. At age 17, he lost a finger in an industrial machinery accident during a night shift, which helped spark his involvement in Brazil's trade union movement. In the era of Brazil's US-backed military dictatorship, which saw foreign corporations profiting from Brazil's wealth while ordinary Brazilians were left in abject poverty, Lula became president of the São Bernardo do Campo and Diadema Metalworkers' Union in 1975. He became a central figure in the struggle against the dictatorship and the capitalist class, organizing strikes and union actions to secure higher wages and better working conditions. The dictatorship imprisoned him. In 1980, Lula helped found the Workers' Party (PT), a broad church of Marxists, trade unions, democratic socialists, rural movements and left-wing intellectuals. When Lula da Silva ran and lost the election to be governor of Sao Paulo in 1982, a dejected Lula considered leaving politics altogether, prompting the intervention of legendary Cuban revolutionary Fidel Castro. According to Lola's biographer and friend, Fernando Morais, Fidel told him: "Listen, Lola, you don't have the right to abandon politics.

On this day in 1945, the president of Brazil Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was born. He would go on to be one of the most influential and transformative Latin American mass movement leaders of the 20th and 21st centuries. Born in Garanhones, Pernambuco, one of the poorest states in northeastern Brazil. His childhood was shaped by the material conditions experienced by millions of Brazilian workers and peasants: rural poverty, insecure employment, hunger and the necessity of emigration in search of livelihood. His family moved to São Paulo as millions of Brazilians did in search of work in the major industrial centers. Lola started working at a young age, among other things as a shoe shiner, a delivery girl and an industrial worker. At age 17, he lost a finger in an industrial machinery accident during a night shift, which helped spark his involvement in Brazil's trade union movement. In the era of Brazil's US-backed military dictatorship, which saw foreign corporations profiting from Brazil's wealth while ordinary Brazilians were left in abject poverty, Lula became president of the São Bernardo do Campo and Diadema Metalworkers' Union in 1975. He became a central figure in the struggle against the dictatorship and the capitalist class, organizing strikes and union actions to secure higher wages and better working conditions. The dictatorship imprisoned him. In 1980, Lula helped found the Workers' Party (PT), a broad church of Marxists, trade unions, democratic socialists, rural movements and left-wing intellectuals. When Lula da Silva ran and lost the election to be governor of Sao Paulo in 1982, a dejected Lula considered leaving politics altogether, prompting the intervention of legendary Cuban revolutionary Fidel Castro. According to Lola's biographer and friend, Fernando Morais, Fidel told him: "Listen, Lola, you don't have the right to abandon politics.