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October 28, 2002

Lula Wins

I've been away travelling for days, so there are many extraordinatry events to note-- the tragedy of Wellstone's death, the end of the sniper hunt, the mass antiwar gatherings in DC and across the country.

But the significance of Lula's victory in Brazil should not be underestimated.

No, he will not be able to enact a radical new economic model in Brazil; the realities of global economic forces, loan debt and IMF pressure will prevent that in the short-term. But in being elected to the largest country in Latin America, Lula's immediately gains a position to begin challenging the global system itself.

As the IMF, World Bank and corporate World Economic Forum's yearly discuss how to extend pro-corporate policies, Brazil has been the annual gathering of an alternative "World Social Forum" to challenge the global corporate system. Lula is an outspoken opponent of Bush's plans for a Free Trade Agreement for the America's, at least in its present form. Lula on promoting a social agenda versus the "globalization agenda":

"We have a completely different approach," he said. Reasonable culpability "for the hunger and injustice that exists in the world today, mainly in third-world countries, (belongs to) those who are right now in New York at the Economic Forum. While they plan how to create and accumulate more and more riches, we discuss how to share ours...As a Brazilian, I'll fight with all my power to stop FTAA in Brazil, because the actual terms of the agreement greatly benefit the United States and their commerce, not ours...When rich and poor nations get an equal treatment in the FTAA, then I'll agree with it.

With the heft of Brazil behind it, global social justice activists will now have a spokesperson in internationational forums to help recruit other allied leaders and movements to fight for an alternative global agenda.

Posted by Nathan at October 28, 2002 07:18 AM

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