Official presidential photograph from Lula da Silva’s first term in office. Photograph by Ricardo Stuckert, courtesy of Agencia Brasil.

The election of President Luís Inácio Lula da Silva marked a major turning point in Brazilian politics. Lula, as he is popularly known, is the first president not to be a member of the intellectual elite and only completed formal education up to the fourth grade. Lula’s party the PT had steadily gained influence since the 90s as a progressive, popularly based political force. Demands by actors such as the Landless Worker’s Movement will continue to keep the government on its toes, and it is yet to see exactly how such a young party will deal with its first scandals and potential losses of faith. Economically Brazil has had a strong period of growth. Moving into the second decade of the 2000s, it continues to grow by large percentages, and it will be very interesting to see in which direction it will go.