------------------------- Via Workers World News Service Reprinted from the Jan. 23, 2003 issue of Workers World newspaper -------------------------
LULA ELECTION RAISES HOPES OF BRAZIL'S POOR By Alicia Jrapko Half a million people took to the streets of Brasilia on Jan. 1 to cheer their newly elected president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Many wore red and white, the banner colors of the Workers Party that he leads. Although Brazil has the largest economy in Latin America, the election of Lula came at a time of severe recession and unemployment. At least 50 million people in this country of 175 million live in poverty, while the income of the top 10 percent of the population is 32 times that of the poorest. In the northeast, infant mortality is 96 per 1,000 live births. Representatives of 119 countries, including seven Latin American presidents, attended the inauguration. Sitting in the front row were presidents Fidel Castro of Cuba and Hugo Chavez of Venezuela. Last October, during Lula's presidential campaign, Chavez coined the term "Axis of Good.'' He said that Venezuela, Brazil and Cuba should team up to fight poverty. It was an answer to Bush's "Axis of Evil" speech, in which he attacked Iraq, Iran and North Korea. Stephen Haber from the Hoover Institute at Stanford University, a long- time conservative think tank, warned the new Brazilian president: "Embracing Castro and Chavez, the symbols of anti-U.S. influence in Latin America, gets Silva political capital in Brazil, but this is a dangerous game. You go too far one way or the other and this will blow up in your face.'' Lula's government favors strengthening the Latin American market, MERCOSUR, and regional integration. He has spoken out against hegemony in any form, advocating a political solution to the conflict in the Middle East and a reformed UN Security Council. The Bush administration showed an arrogant disrespect to this important country by sending no one higher than Trade Representative Robert Zoellick to the inauguration. In October, Zoellick had said that if Brazil did not join the hemispheric free trade zone dominated by the U.S., its only trading partner would be Antarctica. During his election campaign, Lula responded by calling Zoellick "the sub-secretary of some sub-secretary." Lula da Silva's election to the highest post in Brazil worries the Bush administration. His triumph, as well as the recent victory of Lucio Gutierrez in Ecuador and the growing popularity of Evo Morales in Bolivia, are signs that Latin Americans are looking for alternatives to the neoliberal model. This may obstruct U.S. efforts to create a Free Trade Area of the Americas by 2005. The FTAA, like the NAFTA agreement that links Mexico and Canada to the U.S. market, would submit all countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, with the exception of Cuba, to Inter national Monetary Fund regulations. FIRST WORKING-CLASS PRESIDENT The U.S. corporate media is fond of referring to Lula as "a former shoeshine boy" or "a school dropout." While George W. Bush was born into oil wealth and virtually inherited the White House from his rich corporate connections, Lula was educated in the struggle and rose from poverty to become the first working-class president of Brazil. Lula won the election by 62 percent of the votes, while Bush was selected by the Supreme Court after a scandal of uncounted votes from the disenfranchised African American community and many other irregularities. And while the Bush administration may spend $200 billion on a war against Iraq in which thousands of innocent people will perish, Lula in his first week in office suspended a $760-million purchase of a dozen new jet fighters for Brazil's air force. Lockheed-Martin was one of the companies competing to win the coveted fighter plane contract. He chose instead to spend the money on combating hunger to save thousands of lives. During his inaugural address, Lula had said that the initial goal of his administration was to make sure that everyone in Brazil got three meals a day. It is too early to determine the course that this Latin American giant will take. But one thing is certain: Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will be under tremendous pressure from the U.S. government not to take an independent path. U.S. corporations know very well that Lula rode a wave to victory based on the hopes and aspirations of the workers and oppressed, and these exploiters find this very threatening. - END - (Copyright Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but changing it is not allowed. For more information contact Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe wwnews- [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe [EMAIL PROTECTED] Support the voice of resistance http://www.workers.org/orders/donate.php) ------------------ This message is sent to you by Workers World News Service. To subscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To switch to the DIGEST mode, E-mail to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Send administrative queries to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
