Image of the New York Times
The colossal graft scandal surrounding Brazil's national oil company engulfed the country’s most prominent political figure on
Friday, former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva,
as the police raided his home and took him into custody.
More than any other politician, Mr.
da Silva embodied Brazil’s rise as a global powerhouse. Universally
known as Lula, he helped usher his country onto the international stage as
president from 2003 through
2010, winning admiration at home and abroad.
But as a
sweeping corruption scandal rips apart the political
establishment, the once towering political figure is coming to symbolize
something else: Brazil’s crashing ambitions.
In an operation
that began at 6 a.m., officers from the Federal Police swarmed Mr.
da Silva’s home in São Paulo. He
was taken to a federal police station, but he was not arrested or charged. He
was released after about three hours of questioning, which he later derided as
a “media show.”
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