As his popularity continues to wane, President Lula appears as if disconnected to the new realities in Brazil as he faces the most testing time in his political career.

The weakness of Brazil's currency, the rising cost of living, the disastrous municipal elections in October 2024, the fiscal deficit and investor concerns are all issues which Lula needs to face up to but, as yet, has been unable to address.

This week on The LatinNews Podcast, we speak to Richard Lapper, author and journalist and expert on Latin America. Lapper speaks about the potential consequences of Lula's failure to encourage his Partido dos Trabalhadores, Workers' Party in moving beyond its core politics, which were developed in 1970s and 1980s, to the new national reality in which poorer Brazilians are increasingly individualistic in their economic opportunities and therefore more detached from decisions in Brasilia.

We also look ahead at the presidential elections tabled for October 2026 and ask: is there an anointed successor to Lula or opposition figure and former president Jair Bolsonaro and how Brazil's judiciary and congress are gaining more power at the expense of the executive.

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