Lula’s Unfinished Democracy Lula’s Unfinished Democracy The Brazilian president once argued that democracy will founder where inequality reigns. Sarney’s leadership raised fresh doubts about how real or lasting Brazil’s democratic transition would be. In a 1985 interview, Lula was asked whether Brazil’s new democratic system was delivering real change for working people. Democracy is the right to life.” Brazil’s profound inequalities, he argued, meant that the tangible benefits of democracy accrued only to a small percentage of the population. Democracy could not be said to exist under such conditions, Lula insisted.