Lula Falls; Brazil's Democracy Shakes

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva went from being the world's "most popular President" to the first former head of the Brazilian government to be convicted of corruption. It is arguably the most high-profile case in all of Latin America.

Lula was forced to turn himself in over the weekend. He is fighting the conviction of corruption and money laundering he received last July, but last week the Federal Supreme Court rejected his appeal to remain free while continuing to fight the rulings. Following a day-long showdown, he turned himself in, at the same steelworkers-union building where he first started his political career over 50 years ago.

His conviction is part of a region-wide effort to eliminate corruption in Latin America, as John Lee Anderson explains in his piece for The New Yorker. And while there is a sense among constituents that everyone in politics is corrupt, but there is also a "sense of political vendetta" in Lula's case. 

As Anderson explains, as both Lula's conviction and the impeachment of his protégé, Former President Dilma Rousseff, have led to the ascent of some of Brazil's right-wing top politicians, even when they also face corruption charge. This includes the current President, Michel Temer, and the former head of the legislature, Eduardo Cunha.

But rightwing parties more broadly also gained control of Congress as their numbers swoll in recent weeks, ahead of October's elections, a Bloomberg piece notes. This ha allowed them to push against protections for the country's indigenous groups and protected areas, in favor of mining projects and other big businesses.

"Whatever the truth of the charges against him, Lula deserves credit for having transformed the economy of his vast, unequal country, lifting as many as forty million Brazilians out of dire poverty", Anderson writes. And while his accomplishments as President make him the most popular convict in Brazil, Lula must face the price of his actions too. One can only hope his foes will face the same fate.