And today, Lula turns 81

Precisely today, Lula da Silva turns 81. On Sunday he received the best gift to celebrate them. He is a bit older than Trump, who turned 80 in the month of June. And they are not the oldest heads of state: the King of Saudi Arabia is 90, the same age as the president of the Palestinian National Authority. And both are surpassed by the president of Cameroon, who is 93.

As medical science stretches life expectancy upwards, very elderly people, or to put it in statistical terms, people who have exceeded the life expectancy of their country, remain active in all kinds of activities, especially the leadership of a state.

A frequent reaction is to wonder if they haven't had enough, especially from those who live the last years of their working life wishing for the moment to turn 60 or 65 to be able to drop their pens the very day of their birthday. To take a country on one's shoulders past the age of eighty, one must have a lot of desire. Or good reasons. And among politicians, there is everything: those who perpetuate themselves because it is the way to get rich, to protect themselves from criminal responsibilities, or because without power they are nothing, and those who have lived politics, ideas, and the country as a passion all their lives... and once they have tasted power, they cannot leave it.

Was there no one younger in Brazil? Surely yes, but Lula is a brand, a global reference. And winning in the second round after having lost the first is a comeback only suitable for political rock stars. In his victory speech, without naming him, he addressed Trump: “Brazil does not accept being anyone's backyard.” From octogenarian to octogenarian.