Brazil’s Lula among world’s oldest leaders

PARIS, France (AFP)—Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, re-elected on Sunday just two days before his 81st birthday, is among the world's oldest leaders. US President Donald Trump, who turned 80 in June, is only a few months younger. They are among just a few octogenarian heads of state, according to data from the US-based Pew Research Center covering 186 UN member states. Here's a recap of the others, with Cameroon's President Paul Biya, 93, heading the list. - Malawi, Italy - Malawi, which returned in 2026 to the ranks of countries classified as "free" in the annual assessment by US-based NGO Freedom House, has an 86-year-old president, Peter Mutharika. Italian President Sergio Mattarella, 85, re-elected indirectly in 2022, holds a largely ceremonial position but plays an important role during political crises. The country's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is 49. - Nicaragua - In South America, Nicaraguan leader Daniel Ortega, whose country is classified as "not free" by Freedom House, will turn 81 next month. Suffering from kidney problems, he amended the constitution in 2025 to elevate his 75-year-old wife, Rosario Murillo, to the position of co-president and place all state institutions under their authority. - Cameroon's Paul Biya, the oldest - Among countries classified as "partly free", Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara is 84 and Liberian President Joseph Nyuma Boakai is 81. Most of the world's oldest leaders are in countries classified as "not free", particularly in Africa. The oldest of them all is Cameroonian President Paul Biya, 93. Others include Equatorial Guinea's President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo and Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa, both 84. Congo-Brazzaville President Denis Sassou Nguesso and Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni are both 82. Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki is 80, as is Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. In Asia, Laos' President Thongloun Sisoulith is also 80.