I once started a discussion called "this is absurd" speaking of this matter exactly. A right-wing newspaper called "Washington Times" had suggested that in the Event of a Victory from Lula, Brazil would become a terrorist nation with connections to Saddan Hussein and would become a storage site for nukes (???).
Pfff... That is utter ridiculous. The PT (the name of the Labours Party) is left wing undoubtedly, but this sort of policy is impossible here in Brazil.
First of all, our constitution institutes the principle of non-interference. It means that the executive does not have the power to interfere with the destiny of other nations, nor is allowed to wage aggresive wars.
Two, the search for peace is a fundamental reason for the existance of our government. In fact, let me translate the 4th article of Brazilian Constitution, one of our called "petrified clauses" (institutions that cannot be changed unless we make another constitutiuon):
Art. 4th - The federative Republic of Brazil is guided in it's international relations by the following princpiles:
I national sovereignty;
II prevalence of human rights;
III self-determination of all people;
IV no intervention;
V equality between Nations;
VI defense of peace;
VII pacific solution to all conflicts;
VIII aversion to terrorism and racism;
IX cooperation between all people of the world to the progress of mankind;
X concession of political asylum.
Also, in the 84th article and the following, that describes the powers of the president, its established not only that war can only be declared in the event of foreign aggression, and only with authorization of the National Congress, but also that the disobedience of the Constitution is a Functional Crime of Responsibility, that can lead from suspension to exoneration of the mandate.
I wont even begin to list the many guarantees of our 5th article, the most important and untouchable of our constitution, but let me just assure that it grants right of property and equality of all people.
Really, people, I wont deny that Lula probably has some sympathy for some out-dated communism agenda, but he didnt get a majority of the governors nor in the Senate. The very govern ability of the nation depends on many conciliations and concessions. So, even those who believe in the absurd that Lula is a dictator wannabe, rest assure that he does not have powers to it.
Seriously, our laws are pretty refined, and the division of the three powers of state are quite clear. No president have the means to became a dictator or to influence maliciously in the overcome of other democracies. No one would last long if they tried.
Last, lemme assure that this atomic bomb thing is ridiculous. There is not the slightest support for that idea. As I mentioned in the other thread, its even wrong to talk about restarting our nuke program, because we never had one. All uses of Nuclear power in Brazil, in the entire history, are completely pacific.
Not that building a bomb would instantly make it for an aggression. After all, USA has many, but it does not go nuking other nations every time it gets pissed off.
Really, it may be hard to an USA citizen to believe in this, but the democratic institutions in Brazil are quite solid; There is not even a single party here that displays any sympathy for a dictatorial, anti-democratic or totalitarian model, and even in our share of radicals no one ever mentioned the adoption of an external policy of aggression.
Trust me, USA is not the only place when democracy is mature. It is strong enough here so we can bare people with different opinions.
Originally posted by JoeM
I'd be interested to hear what you think of his economic policies, here in England it's been widely publicised that investors have been pulling out of Brazil by the bucket load, but friends and family actually in Brazil seem to have no inkling that this is happening.
What are Lula's actual policies? All I here about is the investors 
It's funny that rmsharpe is once again scared of other countries doing exactly the same things as the US :LOL:
Yeah, there is some truth about the investors thing. The actual comparison between the US dollar and our real is being quite unfavorable (its near to 4:1 now), and we are living days of recession.
Nonetheless, during the elections there have being a few reunions in wich all of our major candidates have assured to the internbational investors that they have nothing to fear, that all the contracts will be respected, as well as the right of property that is granted in the constitution.
Anyway, elections are always times of suspicion, so some money left the country anyway. All analysts, though, expect that once the new government begins to function and the respect promised begin to show, that money will return here.
As for his policies, well, the promises are somewhat vague, as were of all the candidates (in my other thread I also mentioned something about the frivolous behavior in campagns, where wild promises are more effective than real propositions). Anyway, we can expect a change of focus. Fernando Henrique Cardosos government followed a liberal agenda, with privatizations, seeking stability. Lula will probably have more social worries, and will invest more in that field.
Of course, he promises to do so while at the same time granting growth and maintaining the partial stability FHC achieved. Its now a matter of seeing how successful he will be at that.
And as for RMSharpe worries
well, yeah, its indeed funny how only USA can play world police and grant that its values are respected everywhere. Anyway, Sharpe, dont worry. We dont plan to be competition to you guys.
