Por vezes, até a Veja é melhor...

A imprensa americana é cheia de absurdos, mas para tudo existe um certo limite. Popular não quer dizer populista. Hemisfério Ocidental não quer dizer continente americano. Sem mais o que comentar. Deixo apenasalgumas perguntas feitas pelo jornalista Geoffrey Gagnon da NewsWeek à Bruce Strokes. O senhor Strokes é membro de uma organização chamada Conselho em Relações Internacionais (Council on Foreign Relations), cujo objetivo é aumentar a compreensão americana em relação ao mundo e contribuir com idéias para as relações internacionais americanas.

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....Brazil is the second largest economy in the Western Hemisphere, the ninth largest economy in the world and it accounts for about 30 percent of the market in Latin America. This isn?t Paraguay?it behooves us to be worried.

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What does Lula?s election mean to the future of free trade?

There?s the long-term goal of creating a free trade agreement throughout the Western Hemisphere, which is supposed to be done by 2005. I know nobody in Washington, except the negotiators, who believe that can happen. If things go from bad to worse in Latin America countries won?t even want to consider this. Lula has criticized the free trade for the Americas plan, but he hasn?t said he won?t talk about it. Brazil has always been the sticking point for free trade in the Americas and the Bush administration will have to address Lula?s concerns.

Is Lula a real populist, or has he moved the center?

I think he is a real populist. He?s run for president before and learned from it. In this modern media age he has modulated his public image and his public rhetoric. He demonstrates sensitivity to the constraints the government is going to be under in its ability to spend. Just this week he?s announced a new feeding program to help the hungry. That?s going to cost money and he hasn?t announced how he?ll pay for, but he has admitted the country can?t go on a spending spree.

With constraints like that, can Lula stick to his populist agenda?

It?ll be very difficult. His party only won 91 seats out of 513 in the lower house of the congress. It?s not as if he translated the overwhelming support for him into support for his party in congress. He?ll have to deal with the variety of interests represented in the congress and this will naturally constrain some of his populist tendencies.

Why was Lula so successful when his party wasn?t?

People are fed up with the frustrating financial situation in Brazil. I say frustrating because Brazil is not Argentina?this is not an economic basket case. But I think there?s a sense of frustration with the conditions there and a frustration with the establishment. The people may have said, ?Let?s give power to a guy who?s different, who we?ve rejected a few times but who?s cleaned up his act a bit.? Lula?s not frightening, he doesn?t talk or dress like a radical and he is a bit older and more mature. The combination of these things may have given him his huge success.

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