Learning with Brazil and Lula: the politics and geopolitics of social and economic justice.

Not since the election of South Africa's Nelson Mandela and Poland's Lech Walesa has a new leader generated such interest, hope and expectation as Brazilian President Luiz Inácio "Lula" da Silva. In 2003, the newly elected Lula electrified the overflow crowd in Porto Alegre at his first World Social Forum address. His victory seemed to be a concrete affirmation of the forum's mantra, "Another World is Possible." That was then. At the 2005 World Social Forum, new parties, including the Party of Socialism and Liberty (P-SOL), founded by dissidents from Lula's Workers' Party (PT) in 2004, sponsored loud protests just outside Porto Alegre's Gigantinho Stadium. Hecklers inside couldn't drown out the largely supportive crowd, but the joy, tears, hope and adoration that washed over the 2003 audience was replaced by the bated breath of supporters who seemed to have come to hear Lula say something, anything that would make it all make sense.

The Politics: Is Compromise the "Gift" that Keeps on Giving?

Candidates are prone to speak in superlatives, and Lula was no exception. To the markets he promised macroeconomic stability and spectacular growth; to Brazil's working class and unemployed he promised 10 million jobs and double the minimum wage in four years; and to the landless he promised "more land than they could occupy." He courageously acknowledged Brazil's need for racial justice.

The PT's campaign decision to gain power by moving toward the political center has led to an avalanche of compromises that have tested the party's unity and capacity to move its agenda forward. Lula's early decision to maintain the economic team and many of the economic policies of his predecessor, Fernando Henrique Cardoso, was an immediate source of contradiction and controversy. Brazil's interest rates are among the highest in the world and the country's primary surplus exceeds International Monetary Fund (IMF) requirements. The tight monetary policies of Economics Minister Antônio Palocci and Central Bank President Henrique Meirelles may have won the hearts and minds of investors, but advocates for domestic social and economic investments are calling for their replacement.

The PT's enviably progressive record of ...