Lula Mixes Up Dilma Rousseff With PT Veteran Irma Passoni in UOL Interview

Overview

• During a Thursday interview with UOL, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva mistakenly said the 2014 electoral radicalization began in the dispute between Aécio Neves and Irma Passoni.
• The remark came in a conversation with journalist Daniela Lima on Feb. 5, 2026, and was quickly reported by Brazilian outlets.
• In the very next sentence, Lula referenced the episode correctly by naming Dilma Rousseff when describing Aécio Neves’s post-election actions.
• Irma Passoni, 82, is a former nun who helped found the Workers’ Party, served as a federal deputy from 1983 to 1995, and was active in social movements during the military dictatorship.
• Coverage highlighted the moment as another example in a series of past slips attributed to Lula, with no formal correction from the presidency or immediate political fallout reported.