On October 27, 2002, a man who first came to public notice when he led a major wave of protests against Brazil's military regime was chosen as its third democratically elected president. Luis Inácio da Silva, more familiarly known as “Lula,” ran a campaign that downplayed his radical roots and his connections to some of Brazil's most militant and disruptive popular organizations. Beautifully produced and heart-wringing television ads depicted him as a man of the people, emphasizing his working-class background, his struggle for education, and his status as an outsider uncontaminated by the stigma of association with Brazil's often corrupt political class. He formed an electoral alliance with a conservative party, said he had learned to value moderation, and pledged not to renege on promises made to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) – promises he had strongly criticized in prior presidential campaigns. Downplayed were references to his militant unionist background, his long-standing support of socialist economic policies, and his role in the formation of Brazil's most powerful Leftist party, the Partido dos Trabalhadores (Workers' Party), or PT. He campaigned, in the pungent Brazilian expression, as “Lula Light.”

Yet even as he tried to calm the fears of economic elites and international investors, his electoral success depended on harnessing opposition to their neoliberal economic program – much of it coming from organizations linked to his own party who repeatedly staged general strikes, demonstrations, and land seizures throughout 2001 and 2002.