On 11/12/2002 2:58 PM, "lbo-talk-digest" <owner-lbo-talk-digest at lists.panix.com> wrote:
> Date: Tue, 10 Dec 2002 20:51:05 -0500
> From: Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com>
> Subject: Re: Lula's appointments for Treasury and Dept. Environment
>
> So it's Palocci as fin min - who promises a wonderfully austere and
> orthodox budget. How's this going to play in Brazil?
>
> Doug
Folha de Sao paulo is carrying the announcement as part of its coverage of Lula's trip to Washington; that's obviously where this appointment is aimed at. Here are a few snippets from the article:
"I told him [Bush] that we have financial problems in Brazil and that the US can contribute to the management and opening of lines of credit to our country".
"In his speech, Lula affirmed that, faced with the current situation of the Brazilian economy, which according to him would be in an Intensive Care Unit, he will put a doctor in charge" (Palocci is a MD)
"According to the president-elect, Bush was sympathetic to the PTista policy of prioritizing the fight against hunger. The American head of state proposed a common agenda for both countries for 2003."
More in Portuguese at: http://www1.uol.com.br/folha/brasil/ult96u43377.shtml
On a more personal note, I just got off the phone with my folks in Porto Alegre and they say there are rumours a plenty. My trip to PoA is on hold because of talk of a freeze on bank accounts; people have one eye firmly set to Argentina. Surely many people remember the episode back in 91 when Collor confiscated huge chunks of cash, determining the treshhold for account caps by rolling dice; so 'orthodox' 'fiscal restraint' and 'austerity' tends to have a ring of dailight robbery and connote the disastrous policies of the 1990s. But nobody knows for sure.
On the other hand, if Lula had been playing by the script of "How to Default" he would not be exactly telegraphing a socialist revolution right now, though these are both remote possibilities.
Another important question is how long this Treasurer will last. Historically, they don't last long, and one may very well imagine (hope) that the PT will be more vulnerable to disenchantment should he just march down the IMF road to disaster.
Thiago
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