FYI
Re: Brazil....... A slightly different view of the subject already covered here.
dailynews.yahoo.com
Minas Gerais owes the federal government $12.5 billion. The debt was renegotiated last year, when Franco's predecessor agreed to pay $67 million a month over 30 years.
Few analysts think Franco will really suspend payments. His state could lose federal funds and be forced to pay quadruple the 7.5 percent interest rate it now pays.
''It's obvious he won't go through with it,'' said Carlos Ari Sundfeld, professor of constitutional law at Sao Paulo's Catholic University. ''The government has a fantastic arsenal to wage this kind of war and has made it clear it won't hesitate to use it.''
Some feel the threat is part of a long-range political plan by Franco, who was president from 1992 to 1994 and has made no secret he wants the post again.
The fear that other governors would follow Franco's example hasn't materialized.
''I am not going to push the state into a confrontation with the federal government,'' said Anthony Garotinho, the opposition governor of Rio de Janeiro state. ''We want dialogue.''
A little history......(1992)
psg.com
(scrol down unless you speak portuguese).
Itamar Franco leaves an undeniable particular trace, hi personal mark in the Brazilian public life which reveals three main components.
In first place, his personal honor, hi probity and his extreme sense of responsibility in dealing with public concerning which translates his respect int peoples' hope.
Second, his personal simplicity, his refusal to do political promotion and marketing which shows his wish to pedagogicaly dismystify the figure of the president [yeah right!. **],
At last—and the subtlest—his skill of "mending" political affairs, the capacity of administering crisis, his cleverness in constructing conditions which allow the Brazilian people to meet their best feelings.
Politician are ever so....... trust.... amusing.
**[My note]
I say go ahead and devalue, we need another "buying opportunity", like the one in Aug-Sept.... The politicians ? give them to Dr. Kevorkian so he can practice compassion. Burn them. |
