[Marxism] Lula gets booed

[Louis Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxx>]

NY Times, January 28, 2005
Brazilian Leader Hears Boos From Unusual Direction, the Left
By TODD BENSON

PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil, Jan. 27 - Between cheers and jeers, President Luiz 
Inácio Lula da Silva defended his record on Thursday before thousands of 
skeptical antiglobalization activists, saying his government was 
painstakingly laying the foundation to eradicate Brazil's gaping social 
disparities.

Speaking at the fifth annual World Social Forum here in this prosperous 
city of 1.5 million people in southern Brazil, Mr. da Silva used the 
inauguration of a global campaign to eliminate world poverty to answer the 
growing chorus of critics on the left who contend that he has abandoned his 
working-class roots and sold out to global capitalism.

Wearing blue jeans and a white coat, Mr. da Silva insisted that his 
government was steadily chipping away at Brazil's social ills, citing a 
handful of high-profile assistance programs for the poor and recent data 
showing that unemployment had fallen to a three-year low.

He also argued that the country had successfully positioned itself on the 
international stage as a champion of poor nations by leading a global 
campaign against trade barriers and farm subsidies in wealthy countries 
like the United States.

But he had to contend with a constant cacophony of boos from a small but 
vocal group of protesters, some of them former members of the more radical 
wing of his Workers' Party. About half way through his speech, he paused to 
respond to the hecklers, who also distributed pamphlets that showed him 
shaking hands with President Bush and derided the Brazilian leader as a 
"key ally of Yankee imperialism."

"Those of you that aren't from here, don't be afraid," he said.

"These people that don't want to listen are sons and daughters of the P.T. 
that rebelled," he went on, using the initials in Portuguese for the 
Workers' Party. "That's typical of youth, and one day they are going to 
mature, and we'll be here with open arms to welcome them back."

Mr. da Silva's response to the protesters was met with cheers from 
thousands of Workers' Party stalwarts wearing red T-shirts with "100% Lula" 
on the back, many of them invited by the party leaders to offset any 
protests. The president's supporters drowned out the protesters' boos with 
chants of "Lula!"

"When a minority of the population speaks out, that's democracy," Luiz 
Dulci, one of the president's closest advisers, said before the event when 
asked about the possibility of protests. "But let's not forget to listen to 
the vast majority that applauds."

Nevertheless, the protest was a stark contrast from previous social forums 
in Porto Alegre, where Mr. da Silva was hailed almost unanimously as a hero 
of the left. Since taking office two years ago, he has rankled many of his 
longtime followers by embracing free-market policies and respecting the 
terms of a loan deal with the International Monetary Fund, which many of 
the Social Forum delegates accused of burying developing nations in debt.

At the same time, though, Mr. da Silva, a former lathe operator and union 
leader, has successfully sold himself as an ambassador for the poor who can 
bridge the gap between them and the world's political and financial elite, 
who are gathering this week in Davos, Switzerland, for the World Economic 
Forum.

"He represents the voice of developing nations," said Salil Shetty, the 
director of the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals Campaign, 
which is helping to organize the global campaign against poverty.

Mr. da Silva said he would deliver the same message to the policy makers in 
Davos that he gave here.

Later, he left for the economic forum in the Swiss Alps, traveling on a new 
$56.7 million presidential jet.

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