Brazilians to cast vote for economic survival
Reuters, Sunday, September 27, 1998 at 16:53
By Phil Stewart
SAO PAULO, Sept 27 (Reuters) - Brazilian President Fernando
Henrique Cardoso has a commanding lead in voter support ahead
of next week's election despite complaints about unemployment,
illiteracy and poverty, according to a poll published on
Sunday.
If Brazil's presidential elections were held today, Cardoso
would win 46 percent of the votes, a lead of 21 percentage
points over his nearest rival and eight points more than all of
his opponents combined, Datafolha polling agency said.
Brazilians argue that the 62-year-old incumbent, like him
or not, has proven he can restore investor confidence and is
the most able candidate to guide Brazil through a minefield of
global economic turmoil.
"Of course we're going to re-elect our president. We need
him," said 52-year-old Geni Pirres, who works for about $25 a
week as a maid in Sao Paulo.
"Things may be not all that great now, but you should have
seen how it was," she added.
Four years ago, Cardoso launched an inflation-busting
crusade that slashed price increases to less than one percent
this year from almost 3,000 percent before he took office.
The success of the "Real Plan" won Cardoso an image as an
economic problem solver, a reputation that has come in handy as
Russia's financial crisis spread to Brazil.
"Four years ago Cardoso brought down inflation. This time
he will survive this global crisis. Of course I'm going to vote
for him," said Aparecido dos Santos, who makes sandwiches at a
local delicatessen.
Santos, like most Brazilians, seems to have swallowed
Cardoso's bitter interest rate hike. The measure was designed
to plug a wave of capital flight but will likely cause mass job
layoffs and a recession next year.
The president's continuing popularity in spite of economic
hardships has irritated his main rival, left-winger Luiz
Inancio Lula da Silva, whose social reform agenda meets robust
cheers but few backers.
In the dwindling days of his campaign, Lula said he will
drive home the message that Brazil's economic troubles are the
fault of the Cardoso administration.
"You have people who have been unemployed for two years and
the press is blaming the global crisis. No one connects it to
Cardoso's economic policy," the 52-year-old former lathe
operator told Reuters in an interview.
"That's our job. We have the tools and we'll get it done."
Brazil's social indicators are grim. Despite being Latin
America's largest economy with annual GDP of $800 million,
roughly seven out of every 10 voters this election won't have
the equivalent of a first-grade education, according to
government figures.
Roughly 24 percent of the country's adult population live
on a monthly salary of 131 reais ($111) and unemployment has
soared to its highest levels in 15 years.
Brazil's gross inequalities also have allowed half of the
nation's land to remain in the hands of two percent of the
population, causing violent clashes that have left more 1,000
people dead since 1985, according to the Catholic-run Pastoral
Land Commission.
But with a stable currency and the Cardoso economy drawing
the world's second-highest level of direct foreign investment,
Brazil's pragmatic voters say they have to pick their battles.
"One thing at a time," said newspaper stand owner Raimundo
Nonato Moreira. "Brazil will get to that. But Cardoso is who we
need now."
Copyright 1998, Reuters News Service |
