<Tr> <Td> <Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> </Td> </Tr> <Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> <P> General elections were held in Brazil on 6 October 2002, with a second round on 27 October . After three failed attempts, Workers' Party leader Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva succeeded in a presidential election . Nevertheless, he did not manage to obtain the majority of valid votes in the first round; this led the presidential election to a second round, which Lula won with 52.7 million votes (61.3% of the total), becoming at the time the second most voted - for president in the world after Ronald Reagan in the 1984 United States presidential election . </P> <P> During the second term of the Fernando Henrique Cardoso administration, a serious economic crisis began in Brazil as an impact of the 1997 Asian financial crisis . Commencing shortly after the 1998 elections, when Cardoso was re-elected, as a currency crisis, it resulted in a decrease in growth and employment rates and a rise in public debt . In an environment of distrust and uncertainty for investment, many investors feared the measures that were going to be taken if a left - wing candidate won the election . As a matter of fact, when Lula would rise in the polls, the so - called "Brazil risk" index, which measures the confidence of investors in the country, would also rise . The media called this the "Lula risk", indicating that if Lula was to win the election, the economy would fail . Lula was then forced to sign a text that became known as Carta aos Brasileiros (Letter to the Brazilian people), promising that if he won the election, he would not change the economic policy of Brazil . Many in the left - wing saw this as a shift to the center from Lula and his Workers' Party, which openly defended a transition to socialist economy in the 1989 presidential election . </P>

Who was elected president of brazil in 2002