Brazil´s Presidential Election will Not Be a Plebiscite on Lula´s Rule says ex-President Cardoso

PR Log (Press Release) – Nov 22, 2009 – São Paulo:  

Brazilian voters will elect their next president based on trust and not ideology. That is the view of former President Fernando Henrique Cardoso who says voters are looking for leadership and someone who will guide them into the future. For this reason he claims the election will not be a plebiscite on the administrations of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Former President Cardoso´s comments appear in an interview on the Brazil Political and Business Comment site in which he also explains why it is essential for his PSDB party to unite around a single candidate and why he believes Brazil´s biggest party, the PMDB, will line up behind the government candidate rather than join the main PSDB-led opposition. Mr. Cardoso also discusses how Brazil has coped during the economic crisis and claims that much of the progress Lula claims for himself was founded not only in the Cardoso administration but also in that of his predecessor, Itamar Franco.


You can also read Brazil´s Image Gap by Eliot Brockner, a New York-based specialist in security matters, who discusses how the recent violence in Rio de Janeiro has cast a shadow over Brazil´s image abroad particularly ahead of the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics. Here is an excerpt: “Brazil has had a lot to celebrate recently. The economy has been growing at a slow but healthy clip. Prudent fiscal policies have helped Brazil weather the financial crisis better than many. The nation has taken on an increasingly important role in matters of regional diplomacy and has emerged as the de facto political and economic leader of Latin America. ...  However, the spotlight has been on Brazil for all of the wrong reasons since a deadly firefight on 17 October 2009 in one of Rio de Janeiro’s favelas.”

In another article, Professor Antonio Corrêa de Lacerda points out the pitfalls of the ongoing appreciation of the Real against the dollar. In Tackling the Disadvantages of the Strong Real he discusses what he calls the “great myths” surrounding the issue of having a strong currency and calls for alternative ways to tackle the issue and prevent growth being held back by the current policy.