(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is riding a new wave of popularity, according to a poll by Datafolha published in Folha de Sao Paulo. 64 per cent of respondents describe Lula’s performance as good or very good, up nine points since March.

Lula—a member of the Worker’s Party (PT)—won the October 2002 presidential election with 61 per cent of the vote in a run-off against Jose Serra of the Brazilian Party of Social Democracy (PSDB). In October 2006, he earned a new four-year term, defeating PSDB candidate Geraldo Alckmin with 60.8 per cent of the vote in the second round. Lula is ineligible for a third consecutive term in office.

In 2006, Lula’s party was affected by a series of corruption scandals. The socialist-leaning president—also a former union leader—led a strong economy with conservative fiscal policies during his first mandate, and was praised for his poverty-reduction initiatives.

This year, Brazil has experienced a new oil boom, due to high crude prices and several new exploration projects off the country’s coast.

On Sept. 18, Lula referred to the ongoing crisis in Wall Street, saying he has been watching with "sadness" the collapse of institutions that once offered advice to emerging markets "as if they were the super-intelligent and we were the poor souls." The Brazilian president added: "Important banks—very important banks—that spent their lives giving advice about Brazil and what we should or shouldn’t do are now broke."

Polling Data

How would you rate the performance of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva as president?

Source: Datafolha / Folha de Sao Paulo
Methodology: Interviews with 2,971 Brazilian adults, conducted from Sept. 8 to Sept. 11, 2008. Margin of error is 2 per cent.

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