Brazil: 78-year-old Lula is ready to run for president in 2026 to prevent a “fascist” from returning to power

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, 78, said Tuesday he is willing to run to succeed him in 2026 to prevent a “fascist” from returning to power, a reference to former President Jair Bolsonaro or his allies. “I will not allow this country to be ruled by a fascist again, I will not allow it to be ruled by a Holocaust denier again,” Lula said in an interview with CBN news channel.

The former trade unionist took office for a third four-year term in January 2023 after narrowly winning the presidential election against outgoing far-right Jair Bolsonaro (2019-2022).

“Don’t let the troglodytes rule again”

Asked about the difficulties his age might pose for his future re-election in October 2026, when he turns 81, he assured that he would then be “in the prime of his life.” “But I don’t want to discuss re-election right now. My term of office is 1 year and 6 months. I want to achieve what I promised the Brazilian people,” he continues in his post on X.

“If I had to become a candidate to stop the troglodytes who ruled this country from ruling again, you can be sure that 80 years would turn into 40 years, and I could become a candidate,” he said. “But this is not the first hypothesis,” the head of state softened. “There are a lot of good people who could be candidates.”

Jair Bolsonaro was disqualified from running until 2030 for his attacks without evidence on the alleged unreliability of electronic voting, three months before elections won by Lula. He is also the subject of several investigations for allegedly falsifying Covid-19 vaccination certificates and participating in a coup attempt to stop Lula from taking power.

However, he remains very active in politics within the Liberal Party, which has a strong presence in the Lower House of Parliament and the Senate.