Economic growth is up, Amazon deforestation is down and he's scored some key wins in Congress: Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva finally appears to be getting a delayed honeymoon in his third-term comeback.
Once called "the most popular politician on Earth" by no less than Barack Obama, veteran leftist Lula got off to a bit of a rough start when he returned to office on Jan. 1, following a brutal, divisive election against far-right incumbent Jair Bolsonaro.
But a poll last week by the Genial/Quaest institute put Lula's approval rating at a solid 60%, well up from the 51% he scored in April — if not quite on par with the 87% he basked in when leaving office in 2010 after his first two terms.