The massive fraud in Brazil’s Social Security system (INSS) in 2025; costing the country billions; didn’t happen in a vacuum. It happened under President Lula, under his watch, under his government, and under a system entirely controlled by his political allies.

He is the president. The Congress plays his game. The Supreme Court shields his agenda. And the majority who voted for him put this structure in place. So yes, Lula is responsible.

In early 2025, Brazil was hit by a massive corruption and fraud scandal within the INSS (National Institute of Social Security). Investigations uncovered that billions of reais were drained from public funds through fake benefit claims, ghost pensions, and collusion between insiders and external fraud networks.

The fraud had been going on for years, but it exploded in scale during Lula’s third term, amid a lack of oversight, weak digital controls, and political negligence. Whistleblowers and auditors flagged irregularities multiple times, but nothing was done.

Brazilian citizens who depend on the INSS (mostly old people, as INSS is basically their retirement) are now paying the price. Delays in payments, suspended benefits, and public distrust have increased, while those responsible remain protected by political alliances. The fraud is not an isolated case. It is the result of a centralized, unaccountable system led by a government that refuses to take responsibility.

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, commonly known as Lula, is the current President of Brazil and the most prominent figure in the Brazilian Workers’ Party (PT), a left-wing political party founded in the early 1980s. Lula has served as President of Brazil three times, making him one of the most prominent and controversial political figures in the country's modern history.

Lula’s political formation is deeply rooted in leftist and Marxist-inspired labor movements. He emerged as a union leader during Brazil’s military dictatorship and helped found the PT with a mix of Marxist intellectuals, union leaders, and progressive Catholics influenced by liberation theology. While Lula has denied being a Marxist in the doctrinaire sense, many of his policies and political alliances reflect anti-capitalist rhetoric and a strong focus on state-led economic planning and social redistribution.

He is one of the key figures associated with the Foro de São Paulo, a regional political forum created in 1990 by the PT and Cuba’s Communist Party, with the goal of coordinating Latin American left-wing parties and movements, aiming to achieve a The Foro has included socialist and communist parties across the continent, including regimes in Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Bolivia. Critics argue that this forum promotes ideological and political solidarity among authoritarian or populist left-wing governments.

This isn’t just a “technical failure”, a “bureaucratic hiccup.” It’s the predictable result of a government obsessed with ideological control, centralized power, and populist speeches, instead of real reforms, digital transparency, and strong oversight.

The INSS scandal is not only a financial disaster, it’s a moral failure of leadership. And it exposes the true cost of putting party loyalty and socialist slogans above competence, accountability, and the Brazilian people.