Former president of Brazil Lula to write column for The New York Times
Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, right, and his wife Marisa wave to supporters Oct. 28, 2002, after Lula won Brazil’s presidential election with a record 52 million votes, or over 60 percent of the total. Campaign marketers had helped transform his image from radical unionist to fatherly leader.
SÃO PAULO, Brazil — Former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has signed a contract with The New York Times to write a monthly column distributed by the paper's news agency.
The columns will not necessarily appear in the print version of the prestigious newspaper, however. Silva, known more commonly in Brazil by the name "Lula," has requested that they not be published in Brazilian media outlets.
The contract was finalized on Monday when the former president met with New York Times General Manager of News Services Michael Greenspon in New York.
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"The column will cover international politics and economics, as well as initiatives to fight hunger and extreme poverty around the world," the Lula Institute announced.
The invitation to write for the Times new agency came at the end of 2012, but the former president only accepted after Brazil's municipal elections.
Silva's first column should be published in June, though an exact date has yet to be set.
This isn't the first time Brazil's ex-president has worked with the Times. After the death of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, Silva wrote an article for the American outlet about Venezuela post-Chavez, which was translated from Portuguese to English by a third-party translation company. Silva does not speak English.