Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, 62, talks to SPIEGEL about why Brazil wants to join OPEC, his country's biofuels program and Europe's fear of Latin America's shift to the left. SPIEGEL: Mr. President, when you took office five years ago, many feared that you, as a former union leader, would take the country on a socialist course. Instead, you have adopted liberal economic policies which have led the country to spectacular economic growth. Have you abandoned the principles of your past? Lula: As president, I have to be there for everyone. That's the strength of democracy. Someone who is elected by the people will pay as much attention to the needs of a banker as to those of a street child or a blue-collar worker by seeking a balance among their individual interests. In 2003, we had to make some very tough changes to our government finances, so that Brazilians can now enjoy more stability. At the time, I used part of the political capital that I had to get the country back in shape.
Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, 62, talks to SPIEGEL about why Brazil wants to join OPEC, his country's biofuels program and Europe's fear of Latin America's shift to the left.
SPIEGEL: Mr. President, when you took office five years ago, many feared that you, as a former union leader, would take the country on a socialist course. Instead, you have adopted liberal economic policies which have led the country to spectacular economic growth. Have you abandoned the principles of your past?
Lula: As president, I have to be there for everyone. That's the strength of democracy. Someone who is elected by the people will pay as much attention to the needs of a banker as to those of a street child or a blue-collar worker by seeking a balance among their individual interests. In 2003, we had to make some very tough changes to our government finances, so that Brazilians can now enjoy more stability. At the time, I used part of the political capital that I had to get the country back in shape.
Europe's fear of Latin America's shift to the left.
Rightwing pundits do not speak for Europe.
The interview is worth reading. Lula is succesful, so his policies are described as "liberal" (thus he gets the "non-scary socialist" label). In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
The only explanation offered is "to make oil cheaper", as improbable a reason as can be imagined.
The reason for the article is Jerome's citation.
