Lack
of money is not an excuse, says Brazilian President Luiz
Inácio Lula da Silva, appealing to lawmakers to approve reforms
that are expected to jumpstart the Brazilian economy. Lula thinks it’s
time Brazil stop blaming the rest of the world for its own problems and
take matters in its own hands to deal with hunger and unemployment.
by: Francesco
Neves
When the G-7 leaders
meet June 1st, in Evian, France, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio
Lula da Silva will be there at the invitation of the French government.
His intention is to present to the world’s most industrialized countries
a global project in the mold of his own Zero Hunger program being implemented
in Brazil. The President, however, didn’t give details of the plan. Lula
made the announcement in Uberaba, state of Minas Gerais, at the opening
ceremony of the 69th International Expo of Zebu Cattle.
While criticizing
the protectionist policy of foreign countries, Lula stressed that it is
time Brazil takes responsibility for solving its own problems like hunger
and lack of jobs. According to him, it’s natural that the globalized world
couldn’t care less if there is a starving kid in Brazil or if Brazilians
don’t have a place where to work. "This is our own problem,"
he said. "We have to face it and find solutions for it." Brazil
cannot continue acting "as if we were a small nation, a Third World
country."
And he continued:
"We cannot blame others for our historical incompetence. We need
to know concretely which are the problems and to decide to solve them,
because the solutions are in our hands, inside Brazil, and I cannot turn
away from that."
Lula also talked about
the role Brazil should have in a globalized world: "Brazil can and
will walk about proudly and it will fight in the World Trade Organization
so that the commercial relationship is indeed equalitarian between Brazil
and the European Union and Brazil and the United States. If we work correctly,
our meat will occupy spaces in the world and it will never lose again,
because it is a privilege of a nation as Brazil to offer to the modern
world a meat coming from a healthy cattle without crazy cows."
Da Silva appealed
to the Brazilian Congressmen so that they abandon partisanship for the
good of the nation. "We have to work quickly to approve the reforms.
Once in your life forget personal matters and think about the 175 million
Brazilians who are hoping that something will be done besides crying and
saying that there is no money."
The President promised
that he will not make a mistake. "I don’t want, I cannot and will
not make a mistake. I have four years and I want to dedicate every minute
to prove that Brazil just needs a chance and we have to give that chance
to entrepreneurs, producers, workers." For Lula, the economic benefits
from improving poor people’s diets can be huge: "I’ve been imagining
the day when Brazilians can buy the food at the grocer that we’ve produced,
how the economy of this country will grow."
In Brazil, Lula’s
Zero Hunger hasn’t been living to the expectations it created though and
the opposition has criticized it for its poor implementation.
