Lula wins presidential runoff

On Oct. 29 Brazil’s poor, as well as most of the left movement there and in the rest of Latin America, gave a sigh of relief when Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva won the presidential runoff election. That night, with 95.23 percent of the votes counted, 60.75 percent or 55 million went to Lula, the incumbent. That is more than the 52.8 million votes that brought him to the presidency for the first time in 2002.

Geraldo Alckmin, former governor of São Paulo and the contender favored by the right wing and the wealthy U.S.-aligned Brazilian oligarchy, received 39.5 percent.

In the first round of the elections, held Oct. 1, Lula from the Workers Party (PT) had scored a plurality of the votes, but not enough to grant him re-election. He had 48.65 percent against 41.58 percent for Alckmin, the Brazilian Social Democratic Party (PSDB) candidate. According to the Brazilian constitution, a candidate needs 50 plus 1 percent of the votes to win in the first round.

Although Lula was expected to win in the first round, several obstacles caused his lower-than-expected numbers. First, a corruption scandal opportunely (for his opponents) publicized in September led to the resignation of the PT’s president, Ricardo Berzoini. According to Brazilian police, Berzoini’s former aide, Oswaldo Bargas, was going to pay close to $800,000 for documents with information against José Serra, who is in Alckmin’s PSDB and who himself ran against Lula in the 2002 elections.

The second obstacle was the participation in the elections of two former PT members who broke with the governing party: Heloísa Helena, who formed the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSOL), and Cristovam Buarque from the Democratic Labor Party (PDT). Even though they both got many fewer votes—Helena 6.85 percent and Buarque 2 percent—that was enough to cause the runoff.

A third obstacle was that Lula did not join a pre-election debate with the other contenders, a stand that many people saw as unfavorable to him. All three candidates in the debate then turned their discourse into attacks against Lula, rather than on their plans and vision for Brazil.

Left criticism and support

Immediately after the results of the Oct. 1 elections were known, the majority of the left movement reacted, supporting Lula for the runoff. Even though some of these same organizations and individuals had disagreements with Lula, and some had not endorsed him in the first round, there was a tacit agreement among them that Lula represented the poor and an opportunity for the grassroots to gain more power.

It was in general not a blank check but a strong message to Lula to turn to the masses and away from the banks and finance centers. They all stressed the importance of mobilization by the people as the real force of change, adding that a victory by Lula would give the necessary space to carry out the work of the masses without bringing down brutal repression, as in former administrations.

A vote for Lula was also a vote against the policies of privatization and reduction of spending in social services that neo-liberal Alckmin was going to carry out, in the interest of the oligarchy and the transnational corporations.

Lula, the first working-class president of wealthy Brazil, does not hold a university degree, only a metallurgic mechanic certificate. He was a strike leader in the difficult years of the late 1970s, during the military dictatorship that lasted from 1964 to 1985. Lula was instrumental in the founding of the PT in 1980 and the United Workers Federation (CUT) in 1983.

He won the presidency in 2002 with a promise of agrarian reform and redistribution of wealth, strongly criticizing then-President Fernando Henrique Cardoso’s economic practice that was subservient to the International Monetary Fund and U.S. agribusiness. However, once in office, Lula continued the same economic policies that favored the transnational corporations and banks.

These are the main criticisms that the left movement levels against Lula: his near abandonment of the election promises of agrarian, labor, tax and political reforms.

To Lula’s credit, he initiated a series of programs that benefited the poor and have won the masses’ backing. His “Zero Hunger” program was able to benefit around 11 million families. Even his critics—like the universally known leftist priest Frei Betto, who was in Lula’s cabinet but resigned over disagreements on Lula’s commitment to his campaign promises—lauds “Zero Hunger” as the “largest program of income redistribution in the history of Brazil for families that lived in misery.” It is a comprehensive program that includes health care, education and job creation, among other services.

One of the organizations that worked to get votes for Lula’s reelection, the Confederation of Brazilian Women headed by Marcia Campos, issued a colorful fact sheet brochure with information about Lula’s programs for women that have led to a reduction in infant and maternal mortality, access to family planning, health care, and many other services and programs.

The powerful Landless Workers Movement (MST) also supported Lula in the runoff. MST national leader João Pedro Stédile stated, “A victory of Alckmin would be a serious defeat for the Brazilian people, because he represents the interests of finance capital, transnational corporations, Bush’s government, Brazil’s bourgeoisie and the big landowners (latifundistas).” Even though Stédile criticizes Lula’s economic policies, he said that since Lula has been in government, “the left has been able to advance in exterior policy, in the defense of state enterprises, and in some social areas, like basic education and the minimum wage.” (MST Web site)

Latin American integration

As the largest country in South America, with a wealth of resources and billions of dollars of investment by U.S. corporations, Brazil holds a lock on regional plans for integration. According to a study by the Brazil-U.S. Business Council, “197 of the Fortune 500 have investments in Brazil. ... Revenue from Fortune 500 investors total[s] approximately US$91 billion. ... Four U.S. companies rank among Brazil’s 15 largest employers.” (www.brazilcouncil.org, Jan. 14, 2005)

This is only the tip of the iceberg, but it shows the interests of the U.S. ruling class and its politicians to keep Brazil under their wing—away from the new trade relations that Lula’s government has initiated, particularly with China, and away from the reinvigoration of Mercosur, the economic and trade bloc that under Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez is trying to break away from the neo-liberal economy dominated by imperialist banks and corporations.

That is why the Latin American and Caribbean left were watching and actively participating in support for Lula during the runoff. In an interview in the Argentinean newspaper Página/12, Frei Betto emphasized the “international importance of Lula for the current geopolitical situation of Latin America. While he is in government, things will be easier for Fidel’s Cuba, Evo’s Bolivia and for the Venezuela of Hugo.”

Cuban National Assembly President Ricardo Alarcón agrees. In an interview with Tom Hayden in August, Alarcón said Lula’s reelection was “the most important task for the Latin American left. ... Notwithstanding his faults, if Lula is defeated, all of Latin America will be worse off.” (www.truthdig.com)