When Lula swept to power in last year’s presidential elections it was seen as a vote for change. But, asks Jonathan Wheatley, has he lived up to the public’s expectations – and his own election promises?When Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil’s leftwing Workers’ Party (PT) won last October’s presidential election, it was clear that Brazilians were voting for change. They had had enough of former president Fernando Henrique Cardoso’s apparent obsession with low inflation. With unemployment and crime on a steady rise, with schools and hospitals at times literally crumbling away for lack of resources, it was time to forget the IMF and its demands for austerity. Brazilians wanted urgent action on the social issues that Mr Cardoso seemed to have pushed into second place.
Which is why Lula – as he is known by all – won. He is now three-quarters of the way into his first year in office. How much difference is there between the Lula and Cardoso administrations? Mr Cardoso and his team brought huge innovations in economic policy, at a national and international level. Not surprisingly, they made much media capital out of them. Meanwhile, social policies – some of them borrowed from the PT – made quiet progress. Award-winning programmes in health and education made great strides, and many social indicators moved quickly forward.
