In late Novem ber, Ha rl ey Shaiken, Class of. B E R K E L E Y REVIEW OF L a t i n A m e r i c a n S t u d i e s. continued on page 16

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B E R K E L E Y REVIEW OF L a t i n A m e r i c a n S t u d i e s U N I V E R S I T Y O F C A L I F O R N I A, B E R K E L E Y FALL 2005 In late Novem ber, Ha rl ey Shaiken, Class of 1930 Profe s s

H a r l ey Shaike n : After three years in office, what do you view as the most import a n t accomplishments of your gove r n m e n t?

We have ex p a n ded and stren g t h en ed MERC O S U R, c re a ted the So uth Am erican Com mu n i ty of Na ti ons and maintained excell ent rel a ti on s with the co u n tries of the Ca ri bbe a n,

1 B E R K E L E Y REVIEW OF L a t i n A m e r i c a n S t u d i e s U N I V E R S I T Y O F C A L I F O R N I A, B E R K E L E Y FALL 2005 In late Novem ber, Ha rl ey Shaiken, Class of 1930 Profe s s or and Chair of the Cen ter for L a tin Am erican Stu d i e s, i n ter vi ewed Brazilian Pre s i dent Luiz Inácio Lula da Si lva. H a r l ey Shaike n : After three years in office, what do you view as the most import a n t accomplishments of your gove r n m e n t? P resident Lula: On the intern a ti onal front we h ave sought cl o s er ties bet ween Brazil and the rest of the So uth Am erican co u n tri e s. We have ex p a n ded and stren g t h en ed MERC O S U R, c re a ted the So uth Am erican Com mu n i ty of Na ti ons and maintained excell ent rel a ti on s with the co u n tries of the Ca ri bbe a n, Cen tra l Am erica and North Am eri c a. In our search to redefine the geogra phic limits of i n tern a ti on a l trade, we stren g t h en ed our rel a ti onships wi t h m a j or, em er ging co u n tries like So uth Af ri c a, Ch i n a, India and Ru s s i a. We have also inten s i f i ed our rel a ti onship with Af ri c a. Brazil has the s econd largest pop u l a ti on of Af rican ance s try in the worl d, and we have a historic debt to the continued on page 16

2 Lula in the Ring continued from front page Petrobras workers pose with Lula during a visit to a refinery in Canoas. 16 Af rican con ti n en t. In ad d i ti on, the su m m i t bet ween So uth Am erica and Arab co u n tri e s repre s en ted an innova tive beginning of cl o s er rel a ti ons with the Arab worl d. The most tangi ble re sults of Bra z i l s po l i c y tow a rds other devel oping co u n tries have been an unpreceden ted growth in intern a ti on a l trade, the attracti on of n ew inve s tm ents and the i n tern a ti on a l i z a ti on of Brazilian com p a n i e s. This quest for new hori zons took place s i mu l t a n eo u s ly with our con ti nu ed ef forts to build on ex i s ting rel a ti onships with major devel oped co u n tri e s, su ch as the Eu rope a n Un i on, Japan and the Un i ted State s. In trade with the U. S. a l on e, Brazilian ex ports incre a s ed f rom USD$13.4 bi ll i on in 2000 to $20.3 bi ll i on in Mu l ti l a tera lly, Brazil became inten s ely i nvo lved with the World Trade Orga n i z a ti on (WTO) nego ti a ti ons du ring the 2003 meeti n g in Ca n c ú n. Brazil hel ped solidify the Group of 2 0 (G20) nego ti a ting group along with Ch i n a, In d i a, So uth Af rica and Ar gen ti n a. The G20 came toget h er to assu re that intern a ti on a l trade, specifically trade in agricultural produ ct s,

3 would tru ly be an instru m ent to prom o te devel opm en t. We have also suppor ted the reform of the Un i ted Na ti ons now under discussion. We believe that any reform of the UN is i n s ep a ra bl e f rom the re s tru ctu ring of the Sec u ri ty Co u n c i l. The Sec u ri ty Co u n c i l s agenda ever wi der and more ambi tious calls for divers e re s pon s i bi l i ti e s. We have before us a histori c opportu n i ty to expand the Sec u ri ty Co u n c i l in an equ i t a ble manner so that it begins to opera te in a way that is more tra n s p a rent and repre s en t a tive, b a s ed on the va lues of good govern a n ce and dem oc ra tic pri n c i p l e s. On the dom e s tic fron t, we have also had m a j or su ccesses over the last three ye a rs. We reduced the risk-rate on investment and l owered the do ll a r- l i n ked porti on of t h e n a ti onal debt to bet ween 5 and 6 percen t. Ad d i ti on a lly, Brazil managed to raise the n a ti onal econ omic growth ra te close to 5 percen t, the highest growth ra te our co u n try has seen since the early 1990s. Du ring this peri od we cre a ted a record nu m ber of j ob opportu n i ties nearly 3.5 mill i on. We have also seen the fastest indu s trial growth ra tes in 18 ye a rs. I also con s i der the implem en t a ti on of s evera l f a r- re aching social policies to be a great su cce s s of our ad m i n i s tra ti on. The Bolsa Fa m í l i a ( Fa m i ly Fund) program has alre ady assisted 8.7 mill i onfamilies as of 2005 and wi ll re ach a total of 11 mill i on homes by the end of In other word s, we are acco u n ting for all the families living bel ow the poverty line accord i n g to the Brazilian In s ti tute of G eogra phy and S t a ti s tics a nu m ber, by the way, that we see dec reasing due to our econ omic growt h. I would like to add that in order to obtain the financial assistance ava i l a ble under the Bo l s a E s cola (Sch ool Fu n d ), families must meet certain requ i rem en t s, the fulfill m ent of wh i ch wi ll have a major impact on reversing soc i a l exclu s i on. Every child in the family under the a ge of 14 must attend sch ool reg u l a rly and receive all the sti p u l a ted vacc i n a ti on s. Al s o, a ny pregnant wom en in the family mu s t receive all the nece s s a r y prenatal med i c a l tre a tm en t. In 2005 alon e, R$17.1 bi ll i on (USD$7.8 bi ll i on ), 138 percent more than in , went to econ omic devel opm ent progra m s foc u s ed on reducing social inequ a l i ty. H S : I nvestigations into corruption and subsequent resignations have re c e i ved considerable publicity in the United States.What do you view as the central issues to be add ressed and to what extent has this political fallout hampered your a g e n d a? P resident Lula: The important thing to em ph a s i ze is that even though the all ega ti on s of corru pti on going on in Brazil have caused po l i tical shock w aves with reperc u s s i ons we see every day in the pre s s, t h ey have not caused an i n s ti tuti onal crisis in the co u n try. It is proof of the dem oc ra tic vi t a l i ty of Brazilian soc i ety: a ll of the inve s ti ga ti ons from the Pa rl i a m en t a ry Com m i s s i on s to the Federal Po l i ce inqu i ri e s, going thro u gh Federal Pro s ec utor s Office and the Office of the Con tro ll er Gen eral are bei n g c a rri ed out freely and norm a lly. The ju d i c i a l bra n ch is very active in the probe into the acc u s a ti on s, and the agencies of the exec utive bra n ch, e s pec i a lly the Federal Po l i ce, h ave been ri gorous in their inve s ti ga ti on of everyt h i n g. In re s ponse to the all ega ti on s, t h ree Pa rl i a m en t a ry In qu i ry Com m i s s i ons have been functi oning wi t h o ut having caused any i n s ti tuti onal uph e aval in the co u n try. Dem oc racy has been com p l etely pre s erved, wh i ch has in tu rn hel ped to pre s erve the econ omy. It is the federal govern m en t s nu m ber one pri ori ty to get to the bo t tom of the acc u s a ti on s. The truth is that the econ omy did not su f fer any noti ce a ble shocks in recent mon t h s. This is a re sult of our solid econ omic po l i c y, wh i ch com bi n ed growth after ye a rs of s t a gn a ti on with income distri buti on, j ob c re a ti on, a con s i dera ble dec rease in inflati on and redu cti on of our ex ternal vu l n era bi l i ty. The govern m en t s social programs have had a do u ble ef fect : t h ey have tra n s ferred income to m ore than 30 mill i on people and therefore, re activa ted internal markets and sped - u p i n come distri buti on. This ph en om en on, a l on g with the spect acular increase in Bra z i l i a n exports, has initiated a v irtuous cycle in our economy. The sum of these factors has allowed Brazil to continue on the course of growth, continued on next page 17

4 President Lula greets President Bush during the opening session of the Mar del Plata conference in Argentina. 18 Lula in the Ring continued from previous page social justice and inflation reduction that was established at the beginning of my government. H S : Brazil has established important global leadership on issues related to trade and economic integration. During the recent Mar del Plata meetings, Brazil joined with the other members of MERCOSUR in suggesting that further decisions on the provisions of a possible Free Trade A rea of the A m e r i c a s ( F TAA) should not be taken until after the upcoming W TO Ministerial meeting in Hong Kong in December.What do you hope can be a c h i eved at the December W TO ministerial meetings and are there any specific outcomes that you would see as increasing the l i ke l i h o o d of success in future FTAA nego t i a t i o n s? P resident Lula: Brazil hopes to see the mandate of the Doha Devel opm ent Agenda carri ed out by the time of the WTO Mi n i s teri a l Con feren ce in Hong Kong next Decem ber. If the Doha Devel opm ent Agenda is to be de s erving of its name, it is essen tial that these n ego ti a ti ons ach i eve their main goa l s, wh i ch a re, on the one hand to sign i f i c a n t ly redu ce the d i s torti ons impo s ed by the devel oped nati ons on trade in agri c u l tu ral produ cts and on the other, to t a ke into con s i dera ti on the ex pect a ti ons of t h e devel oping co u n tries for su b s t a n tial market access for non - a gri c u l tu ral produ ct s, for ru l e s and special and differen tial tre a tm en t. This is the on ly way that many devel oping co u n tri e s wi ll be able to tra n s form their com peti tive adva n t a ges above all in the agri c u l tu ra l s ector into real ben efits for their peop l e. O n ly then wi ll trade be ef fectively libera l i zed and become a source of growt h, em p l oym en t and income for everyon e. In order to ach i eve this, the devel op i n g co u n tries are wi lling to make sign i f i c a n t con ce s s i ons in areas that are of h i gh pri ori ty to the devel oped co u n tri e s. It was in this s p i rit that Brazil voi ced its wi ll i n gness to revise the import tari f fs on manu f actu red produ cts of interest to the United States and the European Union. Agl obalaccordalongtheselineswouldbe e s pec i a lly wel com e, as it would help break the s t a l em a te in the nego ti a ti on s. F i rs t, su ch an accord would motiva te the U. S. to make conce s s i ons in agri c u l tu ral trade, c u rren t ly the main barri er to more significant adva n ce s tow a rd the cre a ti on of the FTA A. In ad d i ti on, i t would all ow for the principle of preferen ti a l tre a tm ent for devel oping co u n tries in the con tex t of f ree trade to be incorpora ted into the f ra m ework of the FTA A. This is of one of t h e p i ll a rs of the Doha nego ti a ti ons and is similar to what has alre ady taken place under M E RC O S U R. H S : Some have argued that the curre n t complementarities between the Brazilian and Chinese economies make a focus on the expansion of economic relations with China (including both trade and investment) the most fruitful path for the development of B r a z i l s position in the global economy. D o you agree? If so, what particular aspects of the

expansion of economic relations with China do you see as most pro m i s i n g? P resident Lula: China has become Bra z i l s third l a r gest trading partn er in recent ye a rs.

5 expansion of economic relations with China do you see as most pro m i s i n g? P resident Lula: China has become Bra z i l s third l a r gest trading partn er in recent ye a rs. Bo t h China and Brazil have many significant market complementarities, especially in areas important for the de velopment of both these em er gi n g econ om i e s. I should high l i ght the coopera ti on bet ween Brazil and China in the area of tech n o l ogy. We have establ i s h ed the CBERS ( Ch i n a Brazil Earth Re s o u rce Sa tell i te) program and joi n t ly launch ed eart h - m on i torin g satell i te s. Th e co - produ c ti on of E m braer a i rplanes and Ma rcopolo buses is a n o t h er example of the vast potential for a synergy involving technological capacity and trade opportunities. With t he p o ten tial of Bra z i l C h i n a p a rtn erships in mind, t wo ad d i ti onal proj ect s stand out. Brazil has partn ered with the Chinese to build a steel mill in the Nort h - E a s t of Brazil and ra i l roads to tra n s port goods from the agri c u l tu ral Cen ter- West regi on to the Brazilian con su m er market. Both sides ben ef i t gre a t ly from this business partn ers h i p. In Bra z i l, it helps boost nati onal devel opm en t and cre a tes job s, i n come and a com m erc i a l su rp lu s. For Ch i n a, this trade rel a ti on s h i p g u a ra n tees the incre a s ed agri c u l tu ra l, m i n era l and indu s trial input needed to meet thei r h i gh growth ra te. Et h a n o l, an altern a tive automotive fuel derived from grain and corn, is another promising area where both co u n tri e s wi ll be able to join forces to tu rn this ren ew a bl e, envi ron m en t a lly clean fuel into an i n tern a ti onal com m od i ty. Obvi o u s ly, t h ere is sti ll mu ch work to do. We n eed to increase Bra z i l s parti c i p a ti on in the Chinese market and find a bet ter balance in the trade and inve s tm ent flows bet ween the t wo co u n tri e s. The fact remains that there is a mutual feeling bet ween Brazil and China that both co u n tries on ly stand to gain from a s tra tegic partn ers h i p. I am con f i dent in a promising futu re with incre a s ed social ju s ti ce not on ly for Bra z i l, but also for the rest of t h e devel oping worl d. Lula meets with Chinese president Hu Jintao during a May 2005 visit to China. 19

A L A BA M A L A W R E V IE W

A L A BA M A L A W R E V IE W Volume 52 Fall 2000 Number 1 B E F O R E D I S A B I L I T Y C I V I L R I G HT S : C I V I L W A R P E N S I O N S A N D TH E P O L I T I C S O F D I S A B I L I T Y I N