If you didn’t see Fareed Zakaria’s interview with Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva yesterday on his show Fareed Zakaria GPS, I would highly recommend giving it a look on the net: GPS: President Lula .
There are several reasons to do so. First, Brazil is an extremely important country that is, like most of the world, under-covered by the US press. Second, he has a rather remarkable story–one that Horatio Alger would have rather substantially appreciated. Third, for those who fret about leftists (indeed, self-proclaimed socialists) in Latin America might find themselves a bit surprised by some of the things that Lula says in the interview/might be more at ease about the topic.
If anything, his (and Brazil’s) story is an impressive one in terms purely of democracy. Brazil went through multi-decade military rule to only fully emerge into democratic governance in 1990 (with civilian control having come in 1985). Lula was first a factory worker, then a union activist (jailed by the military, in fact) who later became a politician, and eventually a two-term president of his country.
March 30th, 2024 at 1:28 pm
It was an informative interview for me. Mr. Lula impressed me as an astute and personable leader with a remarkable history. He expressed very practical views about the UN/G-20, the responsibilities of the US, the embargo against Cuba, and the benefits and limits of democracy.
I was a little surprised by his somewhat frequent and personal references to God. Also, he was willing to classify himself as socialist despite his aforementioned reluctance to assign labels.
March 30th, 2024 at 1:31 pm
It was an informative interview for me. Mr. Lula impressed me as an astute and personable leader with a remarkable history. He expressed very practical views about the UN/G-20, the responsibilities of the US, the embargo against Cuba, and the benefits and limits of democracy.
I was a little surprised by his somewhat frequent and personal references to God. Also, he was willing to classify himself as socialist despite his aforementioned reluctance to assign labels.
April 10th, 2024 at 6:50 pm
I too was very impressed by the interview. I am trying to retrieve a script or video. Please advise me accordingly. Thank you