Lula da Silva senile? Questions now over mental health of Southern American president

After all the questions surrounding the mental capacity of political movers and shakers in North America, similar queries have been raised over the state of mind of one of the leaders in the south of the continent. Portuguese journalist Luís Ribeiro is under no illusions: Brazil’s president Lula da Silva is senile. The president said in an article published earlier this week that if Russian president Vladimir Putin decided to visit Brazil he “certainly would not be arrested”, in spite of Brazil being a signatory to the Statute of Rome – which means it is bound to decisions of the International Criminal Court (which has issued an arrest warrant for Mr Putin); Lula da Silva has also alluded to the earthquake in Morocco “having little explanation other than climate change; what we are doing to the planet”. Says Ribeiro in a tweet: “Now I understand the president of Brazil’s pro-Putin stance: he is senile”.