At the ceremony, a movie was presented with the biography of the Brazilian president, showing his trajectory from when he arrived from the northeast of Brazil, to his work in the ironworks sector, his political career and his election to the presidency of Brazil.
"When we started putting money in the hands of the poorer people in Brazil, the retail started selling so much that there is no longer a crisis in the consigned credit sector in Brazil. We are at an almost magical moment for the economy of Brazil," said Lula, in New York.
This is the second time Lula is honored in less than two months, as in early July he won the Felix Houphouí«t-Boigny Peace Prize, granted by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
The institute that awarded Lula in New York yesterday is considered one of the most important analysis institutes in the Untied States. It was established in honor of the late United States president Woodrow Wilson, for services supplied to democracy.
Others honored yesterday were Brazilian businessman Eike Batista, president of group EBX, e and the North-American Rex Tillerson, president of Exxon Mobil Corporation.
Lula was greatly applauded by the audience, which included approximately 300 people, among them businessmen, diplomats and politicians, and was praised by Chilean president Michelle Bachelet, and Brazilian businessman Jorge Gerdau Johannpeter, from Gerdau ironworks group.
Lula is the first politician and the third Brazilian to receive the Woodrow Wilson Public Service Award. Before the Brazilian president, those awarded were journalist Ruy Mesquita, the director of newspaper O Estado de São Paulo, and Zilda Arns, founder of a Christian organization to aid impoverished families, the Children's Pastoral.
Lula is 63 years old and is currently at his second term in office as president of Brazil. He was also the founder of the Worker's Party, a union leader and fought the military dictatorship, which ruled Brazil from 1964 to 1985..
Anba