Ciao, Sí£o Paulo. For Marta, Next Stop Is Paris.

In São Paulo, Brazil, the wooden guy’s in front… no, not John Kerry. As we enter the polling weekend, I’ll do one final entry before the post-election mop-up operation.

Mayor of a World City, pretty significant, huh? 10 million people (18 million, if you include the hinterland) all dependent on services from education and health to public works and rubbish disposal. But wait…


“A Serra election in São Paulo would pave the way for [Geraldo] Alckmin to contend for the presidential nomination for the Social Democracy Party in 2006, said lower house deputy Julio Redecker.”


So that’s what it’s all about, eh? Presidential elections in two years time. The city doesn’t even get a look in. For shame PSDB, for shame. But the petistas can still count on the unions, right?


“A (José) Serra victory may raise concerns that the Workers’ Party is losing strength less than two years after Lula, a former union leader, swept to office with about 60 percent of the vote, said Roberto Soares, a director for the São Paulo Metallurgic Workers’ Union.


Suplicy, 59, who placed second to Serra in the first round vote, created 12 new taxes and began road improvement projects that exacerbated traffic snarls in the city of 12 million people.


“Lula will end up suffering the damage from Suplicy’s lousy administration – it’s a rather strong symbolic defeat for the Workers’ Party,” Soares said in an interview.”


The way the Associated Press’ syndicated article on the Guardian site talks about it, you’d think the São Paulo mayoralty was some kind of runner-up prize for Serra for having lost against Lula in the presidential elections two years ago.


It comes full-circle with the conclusion that even if Lula loses São Paulo this weekend, he’ll still romp home in 2006 as the problem is Marta herself, not the PT itself.


Before Marta throws in the towel and packs her bags for the rumoured diplomatic posting in Paris, though there’s one tiny glimmer of hope in this this Washington Times article article, but not much.


I know if I was Lula, I wouldn’t want an ex-mayor with that level of profile in my party floating around with nothing to do.


Bonne chance, Marta.


For more information and analysis of the São Paulo and other local Brazilian results, visit the election blog being run by Guy Burton and Andrew Stevens at www.saopaulo2004.blogspot.com.

Tags:

You May Also Like

Brazil Gets World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Office

Brazil has become the host of the first South American World Wide Web Consortium ...

US Imports from Brazil’s Co-ops Grow 420% in Value and 916% in Volume

The United States, was the main importer of Brazilian cooperatives products last year. The ...

From Cabaret to Syllables

The partnership between Caetano and Gil is one of the most fertile and lasting ...

Old Tales and Wild

Juvenal was a stutterer. When narrating the games he would finish describing the moves ...

Brazil Says Its Closeness to Developing Countries Is Paying Off Richly

Brazil’s Minister of Foreign Relations, Celso Amorim, made this Wednesday, August 31, in a ...

Who’ll Care for Them?

Under ex-President Fernando Collor de Mello the indigenous health care system was decentralized. Since ...

Another Brazilian Dies from Yellow Fever and Foreigners Are Told to Get Vaccine

Foreign travelers to Brazil who intend to visit rural and forested areas are being ...

São Paulo, Brazil, governor Geraldo Alckmin

Brazil: The PSDB Takes the Hard Road

The manner in which the PSDB went about choosing its presidential candidate, Geraldo Alckmin, ...

25 de Março, Brazil’s Most Crowded Street, Becomes Powerful Brand

On a Tuesday, a regular day, it is virtually impossible to walk along 25 ...

Minor Labor Falls 12% in Brazil, But There Are Still Over 3 Million Children Working

Brazil had 3.1 million workers aging 5-17 years old in 2013, the year when ...