December 1, 2004

This Should Be Interesting

An article in the MercoPress carries the following headline:

Former Brazilian president back in the political ring

This got my attention right away, because I wondered which former president they were talking about. Could it be Fernando Collor, the first democratically elected president in that country after years of military dictatorship--who was impeached for corruption.

It was not him. Instead, the article is talking about Fernando Henrique Cardoso, who was president before Lula took office.

Former Brazilian president Fernando Henrique Cardoso (1995/200) accused his successor Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of having no proposals to end the problems and challenges facing the country.

Now this is interesting. Brazilian law prohibits Cardoso from serving more than two consecutive terms, but he could conceivably run again and serve two more terms.

It is apparent, from the article, that this is what he has in mind.

During a seminar of his party, Brazilian Social Democracy, in Sao Paulo this week, Mr. Cardoso launched his attack on the Lula administration and called on the opposition to criticize the ruling coalition.

"Without the need to be infamous, but without velvet gloves on, so the people can see that this administration has no proposals", underlined Mr. Cardoso who is considered a presidential hopeful for 2006.

My overall impression of Mr. Cardoso is that he was a tremendously competent president. He beat the current president twice, once without the need for a runoff. Mr. Cardoso introduced the Real, which has been Brazil's currency since 1994, and been relatively stable. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

Posted by Andrew on December 1, 2004 11:38 AM.