, Columnist
Lula's Downfall Won't Fix Brazil's Political Mess
For all its faults, his Workers' Party brought welcome political change.
One of a kind?
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From hungry migrant peasant to rock-star president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has played many roles over the years. Even so, taking the defendant's chair in Latin America's biggest political graft scandal will be a first.
Lula has vehemently denied the charges -- he's accused of taking some $1.1 million in bribes disguised as home improvements from a contractor for the state oil company, Petrobras -- and tearfully complained to cohorts in the Workers Party that he was the victim of a prosecutors' witch hunt.