Thinking about Lula, Brazil and cancer

Two years ago, we broadcast Channel 4 News live from Brazil. We traversed this vast and thriving country from south to north, from east to west. From the sugar cane estates in the south, beyond Sao Paulo, to vast sprawling city itself, to the Amazon basin, we had that sense of a country in bustling transition. Somehow this whole disparate entity that is Brazil was coming of age.

The president at the time was Lula da Silva, known both at home and abroad simply as Lula. Meeting him, talking with him in a high building overlooking the Amazon, was the high spot of our trip.

I had first met him on platform ten at St Pancras International station in London. He had come in from Paris to attend the London G20 Summit. For some reason there were no other press about. I was able to ask him then, if we travelled to Brazil, would he see us. He promised he would.

The meeting above the river basin in Manaus represented his promise fulfilled. Entering the room for our interview, Lula was surprisingly small of stature, but huge of charisma. He smiled broadly and was warmly welcoming. Bearded, gravelly voiced, energetic and engaged; we got a great interview from him.

Afterwards as we went out onto the balcony, he gave me a great bear hug and then fished into his breast pocket. He extracted a small plastic bag of organic Brazil nuts, which someone had given him earlier. “Have one”, he said. I took the nut and put it straight into my own pocket. “Why haven’t you eaten it,” he asked. “What, me?” I responded, “How could I eat a Brazil nut given to me by the president of Brazil?!  I’m going to frame it!”. We both laughed.

This week we learned that Lula has throat cancer. He entered hospital for treatment yesterday. Some had thought he might return after the current President, Dilma Rousseff has served her term. Others speculated that he might serve in some international capacity.

In an age where there is a paucity of global leaders, Lula is someone the world can ill afford to lose. We should wish him well as he goes under the knife later today.

Follow Jon on Twitter @JonSnowC4