Brazzil

Considering the distressing nature of the Brazilian political arena, where the overwhelming majority of elected officials are thoroughly corrupt, particularly the members of the repulsive Labor Party (and its subservient, allied factions), it is scarcely surprising that an exceedingly ignorant populace repeatedly select scoundrels to represent them, in powerful positions at every level of government.

Additional examples of political naïveté can be founds in major urban centers such as the city of Rio de Janeiro, where the obtuse citizenry supported a candidate belonging to a party (PMDB) which pledges political allegiance to the incompetent Brazilian (self-appointed) “ruler”. The disappointing electoral results in Brazil’s second largest Metropolis was particularly distressing, on the personal level, even though I have left Brazil several years ago, because the lovely but unfortunate Rio de Janeiro is “my home-town”…

At the very least the awe-inspiring reports of a significant Labor defeat in Brazil’s wealthiest, most cosmopolitan, and sophisticated city has filled my heart with joy and hope for Brazil’s future…

Consequently, I must congratulate the wise choice made by the citizens of fabulous, vibrant city of Sao Paulo!

At the very least the awe-inspiring reports of a significant Labor defeat in Brazil’s wealthiest, most cosmopolitan, and sophisticated city has filled my heart with joy and hope for Brazil’s future…

Another "cosmopolitan and Sophisticated" city where PT was thrashed even in the First round is Curitiba.

It is just question of price not political ideology....in Brazil !

If you go back to the vote buying scandals articles, it is simply amazing the number of politicians moving to another political party !!!!

It becomes a question of rights (straight corruption for vote buying with cash) and budgets allowances for projects which themselves are full of corruption.
Simple example : a year before Lula re-election, HE decided to fill the potholes in several thousands kilometers of roads.
Budget so small that some brazilians experts said...it will just suffice to fill the potholes with sand. And the sand will run away by the next rainy season !
Some photos published and even short videos on TV Globo even showed children filling the potholes with Noooo truck around loaded with sand. They just took soil from the side of the road !!!!!!

After the "work" was done by many local enterprises, the audit showed 73 companies had irregularities in their accounting !
End result : of course....no one was sued or bothered !

And Brazil remains with 5 % of paved roads !
BR 163 from/to Mato Grosso, with tens of promises to be paved by Lula or his predecessors...still not paved after 30 years !
Never seen it ? Here it is
A) the maquetta interativa (smiles)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZdLU2HOBQA

B) the sad daily reality (pay attention to the 6-8 decades old "truck" at the start of the video)
http://mariri.net/rainforest-blog/?p=7

And some statements :
- The rhetoric intensified this year when Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva earmarked about $800 million to pave the entire highway by 2010. So far, work has gone slowly, and Brazilian army engineers said they were paving only 12 miles of road a year.
- “This road is a national shame!” ranted 53-year-old Jorge Luiz Calvacanti, who raises crops and cattle on 494 acres about 115 miles down the road from Santarem. “How could they be so irresponsible as to ignore the country’s main artery that connects its north to its south?”

No doubt...some of the earmarked money...will end up in many pockets...not for paving the roads !!!!!!

This analysis is poor and biased. You describe Serra as a social democrat and Rousseff as a socialist. This is rubbish. There is not much of an ideological difference between Serra and Rousseff that I can detect. Indeed, Rousseff has been a driving force behind getting the private sector more involved in infrastructure projects for example, something that is highly controversial even here in the "free-market" United States.

Observing Brazilian politics from a distance, the polarization between the PT and PSDB has long baffled me when you consider that the policies that both parties pursue at the national level are basically identical. I have come to the conclusion that the key factor behind the PT-PSDB polarization is a sort of class identification. The PT represents the electoral expression of the poor and lower-middle class, which provokes an oppositional reaction from the upper-middle class. The greater power of the poor is threatening to the upper-class because in Brazil, gains are seen as zero-sum. If the poor are prospering, the middle class think that their (the poor) prosperity is coming at their expense. This sort of political dynamic reminds me of the American South were I grew up. In the South, Whites and Blacks define themselves in opposition to each other so voting for different political parties is a natural result.

Augustus, describing voters who disagree with your electoral wishes as stupid and naive is elitist and anti-democratic. It was quite predictable that a candidate like Gabeira running on a platform of ethics and honesty would appeal much less to poor and working-class voters than he would to wealthier voters. Poorer voters everywhere in the world are most interested in politicians who will directly improve their lives. An effective government can literally mean life or death for them; therefore, they are most interested in results rather than the process. A politician like Gabeira that fetishizes ethics and not attacking his opponent (in other words, the process of politics) is going to have a much tougher time winning poorer voters than a more practical political. Incidentally, this was Obama's big problem in the Democratic primary against Hillary Clinton and to a lesser extent in the general election before the financial crisis became acute a few weeks ago and thus made the outcome of the election entirely predictable in his favor.

My two cents worth:

Observing Brazilian politics from a distance, the polarization between the PT and PSDB has long baffled me when you consider that the policies that both parties pursue at the national level are basically identical.

It may baffle you since you are a distant observer, but not the honest and well informed Brazilians. There is not much of a difference between PT,PSDB or for that matter PMDB. We call them "Farinha do mesmo saco". I don't know if you are aware that PSDB and PMDB are two rival factions of erstwhile MDB. You are in a way correct when talking about "Class identification". However, I do not think that PT represents the "poor and the lower middle class". It does promote personality cult and populism much better than the rest of the parties, effectively using their propaganda machine. Without its ally PMDB, it will not be able to "Rule", especially after the success of the PMDB in the Municipal elections.That is just a temporary set back, as they are capable of mobilizing the labor unions, the Student Union and MST just in time for the 2010 elections to come out with its own lady candidate (as promised by Lula).

Augustus, describing voters who disagree with your electoral wishes as stupid and naive is elitist and anti-democratic.

Knowing our distinguished blogger Augustus, he was neither elitist not anti-democratic.He was merely complimenting the "Paulistanos" for having elected a Technocrat instead of a demagogue like his fellow Cariocas did. In fact Augustus has to be praised for being blunt.

As for Dilma, she did not really start her political career in PT.The capital of the state where she made her "Career" voted for a candidate of PMDB as the Mayor!! That shows how popular she is in her home base.

http://bringseanhome.org

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...re=related