The election of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva as Brazil's first working class President was a both a personal triumph over adversity and a landmark event in Brazilian and Latin American politics. At a personal level, his victory represented the culmination of a family's long struggle to escape poverty and deprivation in the Northeast, to seek new opportunities in São Paulo. More broadly, Lula's rise to power, winning the Presidency only at his fourth attempt, has played a major role in the re-emergence of populist, left-of-centre regimes on the continent, with perhaps wide-ranging economic and social implications for the poorer sectors of society. Yet, unsurprisingly, compromises have been necessary on this often tortuous path. The need to reconcile the ‘leftist’ rhetoric that got Lula elected with the harsh realities of having to deal with neo-liberal international financial institutions and to win votes in Congress has produced tensions, contradictions and, for many observers, especially hard-line Workers' Party (PT) sympathisers, extreme frustration and disappointment.
These dilemmas are well captured by Richard Bourne, an aficionado of Brazil for over 40 years, in this highly readable and accessible volume. English readers are given a reasonably detailed account of Lula's early years, based to a large extent on the personal testimony of family and friends; Lula's humble origins in the Northeast and the dramatic move south in the 1950s, his childhood in Vila Carioca and infamous stint as a ‘shoeshine boy’, the industrial apprenticeship, his involvement in militant trades unionism during the military dictatorship and gradual rise to become president of the metalworkers union in 1975. The impact of personal tragedy on Lula is also sensitively documented, in particular the death in childbirth of his first wife when he was just 25. Lula's radicalisation during the dictatorship in response to the regime's brutality and repressiveness, not to mention his own brief period of political imprisonment, are analysed. The first three chapters of the book will indeed serve as a timely reminder to modern readers of the evils of dictatorship, in an age when political memories can be remarkably short.
Lula's rise accelerated with his involvement the formation of the PT in 1980 as a radical political alternative that acted as a springboard for his own political career. Having been elected federal deputy, Lula fought his first presidential election in 1989 against Fernando Collor de Mello, falling foul of ‘dirty tricks’ and inexperience. Lula's doggedness as a ‘persistent candidate’ is underlined by his next two unsuccessful campaigns for the presidency against Fernando Henrique Cardoso in 1994 and 1998 before finally securing victory in 2002. Throughout this account of Lula's progress during this period of electoral struggle, the author contextualises the issues admirably against the backdrop of political intrigue and social change with the country.
Bourne's account really comes into its own, however, when assessing Lula's overall achievements as President of Brazil, focusing on his first term from 2003–06. What emerges is not a fawning portrait of a working class hero who has succeeded against all the odds and can now do no wrong in the eyes of fair-minded citizens. Instead, we are presented with a balanced, at times hard-hitting, ‘warts-and-all’ analysis of a government and a President that have had to sacrifice many of their cherished ethical or leftist principles. The list of scandals is a long one, the most infamous of which was the regular bribing of politicians with monthly payments (the mensalão) in order to guarantee the passage of legislation through Congress, where the PT had no working majority. This and other episodes are extensively documented in Chapter Six, which pulls no punches and makes no attempt to gloss over the sins of the Workers' Party and its associates. Astutely, however, as the author explains, Lula has managed to distance himself from the shenanigans of the PT, by-passing the party apparatus to appeal directly to the people, the povão. A combination of charisma, skilful oratory and effective social programmes such as Bolsa Familia targeted at the poor have succeeded in maintaining consistently high levels of popular support for the President, who had promised at his inauguration not to let any Brazilian go to bed hungry. While other ministerial heads have rolled, perhaps as sacrificial lambs it should be said, Lula rose above the fray to remain ahead of the game.
Richard Bourne's timely volume makes it clear that even a personality as powerful as Lula's is not totally immune from political backlash: he was forced to go through a second round of voting during the 2006 presidential election. But this loss of popular support was only temporary and Lula currently rides high in the polls. As the author notes, this Brazilian president, ‘arguably the most significant since Getúlio Vargas’, has made it his personal mission to attack poverty and ensure that Brazil's wealth trickles down in greater measure. Economic indicators suggest that this process may indeed have made already started, reflected in rising income levels and less inequality. As the country's prospects improve further still with the boom in commodity exports and following recent oil discoveries, Lula's legacy may prove to be a lasting one. Other studies, enjoying the benefit of hindsight, will no doubt grapple with this question in the years to come. Yet they will have their work cut out to produce as enjoyable a read as this.
