Whither Brazil?

Noted progressive religious figures, like Leonardo Boff, announced imminent “change” which would challenge U.S. hegemony and lead to great popular participation. Frei Betto, a close associate of Lula, launched a vitriolic attack on critics who questioned some of Lula’s appointments citing his popular roots as a former metal worker and union leader a quarter of a century earlier.

Left-wing members of the Workers Party, Olivo Dutra and Tarso Genero, appointed to minor ministerial positions in Lula’s cabinet called for the “disciplining” (expulsion or silencing) of a dissident PT Senator Heloisa who objected to the PT’s support for right-wing Senator Jose Sarney as President of the Senate. European, U.S. and Latin American progressives and leftists and their movements, NGO’s, parties and journals joined the celebration of the Lula Presidency and his “progressive agenda” and his “leadership in the fight against neo-liberalism and globalization”…

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