Brazil's Currency Gains After Lula Candidate Wins Congress Vote

[bemildred]

Sept. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Brazil's currency rose to a four- year high after President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's candidate won election to lead the lower house.

The real rose as much as 0.5 percent as the vote buoyed optimism that Lula's administration, while weakened by allegations of corruption, may be able to push legislation needed to bolster the economy through congress, said investors such as Boris Segura at Standish Mellon Asset Management.

``It is a signal that after many months of defeat that the government is able to pull one off,'' said Segura, who manages $800 million at Standish Mellon in Boston.

The currency gained 0.4 percent to 2.2194 reais to the dollar at 12:28 p.m. New York time, extending its rally over the past 12 months to 28 percent, the best performer among the 60 currencies Bloomberg tracks against the dollar.

Bloomberg

[enid602]

1. Lula

Go, Lula!!!!! This is turning out to be a good week for democracy.

[mumon]

2. Brazil

has been on a tear this past year (look at symbol EWZ).

They're oil independent.

They've got good foreign debt management.

They don't have rightists in government.

[Judi Lynn]

3. This must be killing our right-wing fiends.They thought they had him

on the ropes, no doubt, recently:

Brazil's Lula still standing as scandal loses steam
Reuters

Sep 29, 2005 — By Angus MacSwan

BRASILIA, Brazil (Reuters) - A long corruption scandal in Brazil has left President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva battered and bruised — but he is still standing as his opponents' assault begins to weaken.

At the height of the crisis, his rivals were moving in for the kill. Now it looks like the decisive round might not be until Brazil's presidential election in October 2006, giving Lula a year to repair his reputation and regroup his forces.

Lula's hand was strengthened with the narrow victory on Wednesday of the government candidate in an election for the leadership of the Lower House of Congress, a position which can protect him from opposition impeachment moves.

"One could have imagined a lot worse," said Peter Hakim of the Inter-American Dialogue, a research group in Washington.
(snip/...)

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=1170051

[1932]

5. I wonder if N.E.D. has plans for the 2006 election?

There must be a problem with democracy in Brazil if they're not electing the most conservative politicians running for office, eh?

[Judi Lynn]

6. I'm sure they're probably working on it even now, don't you?

They'll have a hard time generating public hostility against Lula da Silva, I'll bet, as he's a much lower key leader than Chavez.

You remember when Dorothy Stang, the Iowa nun was killed in the Amazon trying to work against the destruction of the rain forest all these years: a simple google check indidated there are huge American companies invested in removing the trees from the forest. It goes without saying our Republican Party ALWAYS intends to destroy ALL moderate and liberal politicians: Lula da Silva won't be spared. Didn't they already attempt to spread the rumor he was an alcoholic?
Whatever their rumor program was, it didn't work out for them.

They can't afford better people to get into government, as they show them up so badly, and they don't funnel their nations' wealth into the very few greedy Republican hands waiting for the big payoffs.

[bemildred]

7. While he seems to have some problems, I've always been a bit skeptical

that it was as bad as it was being painted. Having watched the
long shit-throwing campaigns against other "radical leftist anti-
American firebrand increasingly-dictatorial and authoritarian"
leaders in Latin America, I tend to tune it out whenever I start
to see such obvious spin.

But its nice to see him get a win, I expect it will help steady
him down for the attacks he still faces.

[1932]

4. Listening to NPR's story yesterday about this, you'd be surprised Lula's

party won.

Kind of like the coverage of the German election coverage on the BBC and everywhere else.

Why does the media have so much less faith in the left and enthusiasm for the right than the masses apparently have?