Brazil's Ex-Prez Silva Improves in Hospital A Sao Paulo hospital says that former Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is improving as he fights a lung infection. The Sirio-Libanes hospital says that Silva is being treated with antimicrobials and has shown a "clinical and laboratory improvement" since being admitted on Sunday. The hospital statement issued Thursday says no release date has been set. The former leader also has been undergoing radiation therapy for throat cancer diagnosed late last year. Silva was president of Brazil from for eight years beginning in 2003.