[PEN-L:33287] New Brazilian Ministers

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More news from the land of samba, smoking inside restaurants and cooption...

*Big news is that the PMDB (a Social Democrat party with cosmetic distinctions 
from the ruling PSDB) will not be forming a coalition with the PT. This is the 
best news I have heard out of Brazil all week. This has been blamed for a halt 
in the reversal of the Real's fortunes. (The dollar hit a three month low 
against the real earlier this week.)

*New ministers confirmed today.  (I summarized these from the Folha de Sao 
Paulo and the PT web site):

Cristovam Buarque goes into the Ministry of Education. Recently elected as PT 
senator for the Federal District of Brasilia. Doctorate in economics from the 
Univesity of Paris, worked forthe IADB in the 70s; has published 18 books about 
childhood education.

Jaques Wagner, Minister for Work. Founder of the CUT in Bahia state; president 
of the union of chemical workers in that state. Opposes GM foods.

Humberto Costa, Minister of Health. Psychiatrist and journalists, been with the 
PT since the beginning. 

Dilma Rousseff - Minister of Mines and Energy. Doctorate in theoretical 
economics from the University of Campinas; worked as treasurer in Porto Alegre 
1986-88. Occupied the Secretary of Mines and Enegry in the Dutra governemnt in 
Rio Grande do Sul state.

Nilmário Miranda - National Secretary for Human Rights. One of the founders of 
the PT, postgraduate in Political Sicence. In 1995 he headed the Commission 
into Political Deaths and Disappearings.

These folks look like proper middle of the road PT guys, instead of the 
neoliberal trash Lula served up last week.

*Lula has created a Ministry of Cities, which will link the Federal Government 
directly to the cities. Olivio Dutra, the ex-governor of Rio Grande do Sul, 
will take charge of it. It seems that this new organ is a federal counterpart 
to the grass-roots PT strategy of focusing on mayoral and local politics. A 
sure hit with the NGOs, could be a mixed blessing if it brings the often very 
radical local PT groupings under the control of the very unradical federal PT.

*The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Economics estimates current 
unemployment at 11% (I'd say this is a wacky understatement). GDP grew by 0.94% 
in the last three months of 2002.


Thiago Oppermann
 

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