Lula da Silva of Brazil and Mauricio Funes from El Salvador, parallelisms
The election was just the beginning…
By Juliana Pierossi*
In June 1st, El Salvadorians will commemorate their recently elected president Mauricio Funes. They will also celebrate the victory of left-wing ideas, policies and goals repeating the experience of other neighbors in the continent who have gone through similar transition in recent years.
When a country coming out of decades of right-wing rule finally elects a left-wing president, those who gave him power have a lot of expectations regarding the changes they hope will quickly transform years of market-driven philosophy. Everyone anticipates those reforms that will address inequality, poverty, the economic crisis, lack of jobs, insecurity and violence…
In October of 2002, another country in Latin America long led by right-wing parties witnessed the climb of a well known left-wing candidate. In his rise to the presidency of Brazil, Lula da Silva led the opposition as head of the Worker’s Party. For decades, Lula’s ideology had been too radical for the middle-class. The drastic economic measures he fought for during his political career drove international speculation and brought hysteria to the internal market during his campaign. Those who elected him wanted rapid transformation, the opposition feared his reforms.
However, once in power, Lula adopted a reformist line, stepping into central-left politics. In summary, he strengthened social programs from past governments simultaneously promoting sustainable and progressive economic measures. Disagreeing with Lula’s moderate focus many of his former supporters left the Worker’s Party to form more fundamentalist leftist organizations. Lula was accused of being a “vendido”, a traitor of his early ideology. To TIME magazine he declared: “Let the theorists write their theses; it's called doing things right”[i].
In reality, as Lula prepares to leave office in 2011, evidence shows that he made the right choices. Despite criticisms, Brazil is doing well. The economy is growing and social inequality receding. During his rule, around 180 million Brazilians came out of poverty into middle-class. [ii] It is not surprising that Lula da Silva is now internationally recognized for his politics. He is today, the most popular Brazilian president in half a century.[iii]
In the next few months, Funes will face some of the same challenges Lula dealt with almost 8 years ago when he first took office. The new president of El Salvador will have to point the best direction for his country and lead it towards development. He will decide between radical and steady change, winning support and meeting his promises, ideologies and making the right choices.
Juliana Pierossi is a brazilian, political science columnist for Salvadorans in the World
[i] Padgett, Tim and Andrew Downie, September 2008. “Brazil Booms by Going Lula’s Way”, Time Magazine. http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1842918,00.html -[ii] Idem. -[iii] Idem.
By Juliana Pierossi*
In June 1st, El Salvadorians will commemorate their recently elected president Mauricio Funes. They will also celebrate the victory of left-wing ideas, policies and goals repeating the experience of other neighbors in the continent who have gone through similar transition in recent years.
When a country coming out of decades of right-wing rule finally elects a left-wing president, those who gave him power have a lot of expectations regarding the changes they hope will quickly transform years of market-driven philosophy. Everyone anticipates those reforms that will address inequality, poverty, the economic crisis, lack of jobs, insecurity and violence…
In October of 2002, another country in Latin America long led by right-wing parties witnessed the climb of a well known left-wing candidate. In his rise to the presidency of Brazil, Lula da Silva led the opposition as head of the Worker’s Party. For decades, Lula’s ideology had been too radical for the middle-class. The drastic economic measures he fought for during his political career drove international speculation and brought hysteria to the internal market during his campaign. Those who elected him wanted rapid transformation, the opposition feared his reforms.
However, once in power, Lula adopted a reformist line, stepping into central-left politics. In summary, he strengthened social programs from past governments simultaneously promoting sustainable and progressive economic measures. Disagreeing with Lula’s moderate focus many of his former supporters left the Worker’s Party to form more fundamentalist leftist organizations. Lula was accused of being a “vendido”, a traitor of his early ideology. To TIME magazine he declared: “Let the theorists write their theses; it's called doing things right”[i].
In reality, as Lula prepares to leave office in 2011, evidence shows that he made the right choices. Despite criticisms, Brazil is doing well. The economy is growing and social inequality receding. During his rule, around 180 million Brazilians came out of poverty into middle-class. [ii] It is not surprising that Lula da Silva is now internationally recognized for his politics. He is today, the most popular Brazilian president in half a century.[iii]
In the next few months, Funes will face some of the same challenges Lula dealt with almost 8 years ago when he first took office. The new president of El Salvador will have to point the best direction for his country and lead it towards development. He will decide between radical and steady change, winning support and meeting his promises, ideologies and making the right choices.
Juliana Pierossi is a brazilian, political science columnist for Salvadorans in the World
[i] Padgett, Tim and Andrew Downie, September 2008. “Brazil Booms by Going Lula’s Way”, Time Magazine. http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1842918,00.html -[ii] Idem. -[iii] Idem.
Labels
Funes
THE RIGHT CHOICE IA ALREADY MADE
ReplyDeleteFUNES WILL BE THE BEST PRESIDENT IN THE WHOLE HISTORY OF EL SALVADOR.
ARENA IS THE WORST POLITICAL PARTY IN CENTURIES.
EL FRENTE IS GOING TO SAVE EL SALVADOR.
FUNES WILL BE BETTER PRESIDENT THAN LULA.
!!!!!!!!VIVA EL SALVADOR!!!!!!!!!
There is a slight comparative personalities amoung the two presidents.
ReplyDeleteDespite their geographical situation.
What they have in common is the very difficult tracking in their countries respctively of the right wing oposition.
Both of them will be a success and the new President Funes will have a better position due to the fact that the first one already have the experience for the sendo one.
GODD LUCK MR FUNES, EVEN IN THE RIGH WIN FATE AND IN THE NEW WIDE BAND OF MiDLE CLASS TO GROW IN EL SALVADOR.
Jose Matatias DElgado Y Del Hambre.
We are confident that Mauricio Funes will do such a great job as President of El Salvador.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, we should not forget that everyone should contribute to this endevour.
Just a brief comment, it's true that Lula is a reference point to Mauricio but El Salvador has its own particularities. I am confident that Mauricio would be able to identify those particularities and made the right choice at every step.