Disenchantment with Lula

In 1982, the late historian Robert Levine¹ gave an informal address to a group of American college students attending the University of São Paulo in Brazil. He made a statement that did not go over well with most of the politically engagé students assembled. In referring to the entrenched corruption of both civil and official societies, Levine commented that it didn't matter who was the president since the bureaucracies and practices of daily life would remain the same. He concluded that you could have Lula² or Maluf³ as president and nothing would change. The underlying issue as identified by Levine was the need for reform in the very fabric of society.

It is often said that in Brazil there are two ways to accomplish any task, the official way and the unofficial way or “jeitinho.” Some scholars have postulated that the (in)famous “jeitinho” developed as a necessity because of the immense, and at times contradictory, bureaucracies that can bring to a halt almost any interaction with official organs. The need for society to function leads to extra-official practices enacted by functionaries who deal directly with those seeking resolution.  Obviously, the very nature of these arrangements lead to corruption, sometimes softer – such as a donation to the “coffee fund” (pagar o cafezinho) or the “tip box” (caixinha dois) – and other times more blatant and abusive. A major problem is the wide-spread acceptance of the practice as a simple fact of life and cost of doing business in Brazil. This reality is so entrenched in Brazil that some U.S. businesses found themselves unable to do business in Brazil without violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 (FCPA) and the International Anti-Bribery and Fair Competition Act of 1998, which prohibit the bribing of foreign officials.

Luis Inácio “Lula” da Silva was a founder of the Brazilian Workers’ Party or PT (Partido dos Trabalhadores) in 1980 when the last military president, João Figueiredo, abolished the prescriptive bipartisan political system and allowed for the organization of new parties under the “Political Opening” (Abertura Política). In addition to several elected offices, Lula ran for President of the Republic in 1989 and 1994, losing both times in the second round run-offs, first to Fernando Collor de Mello and later to Fernando Henrique Cardoso. Throughout his political career up to that point, Lula distinguished himself as a tireless union organizer and social reformer. The Workers’ Party, whose symbol is a red star, was the farthest left party legal in Brazil when it was formed, and its platform included policies of redistribution of wealth including agrarian reform. In the years prior to his eventual election as president, Lula was often portrayed even by his detractors as perhaps Brazil’s only “honest politician.” In preparing himself to run again in the 2002 elections, Lula adopted a significantly different public persona, opting for smartly tailored suits and trimmed beard in place of his signature casual shirt sleeves and bushier facial hair. One of his first moves was to meet with the powerful Federation of Industries of the State of São Paulo (FIESP), the most significant industrial organization in the country and a long-time opponent of a Lula presidency. Lula assured these economic leaders that he would not threaten their hegemony and would maintain the economic policies of his predecessor, Fernando Henrique Cardoso. Most of his hardcore supporters probably assumed that this was merely a ploy to get into office, the ends justifying the means. However, once elected Lula was good to his word largely left unmodified the policies that had led to the economic stability under Cardoso. This policy alienated some of his party’s staunchest vanguard and led to sharp criticism from within the political left. However, Lula’s overall popularity grew during his presidency, at one point achieving the highest ever approval ratings for a Brazilian president. In 2009, Barack Obama referred to Lula as "the most popular politician on Earth" during a G20 summit in London.

Nevertheless, in 2005 during Lula’s presidency a massive influence peddling scheme operated within the corridors of the National Congress. Known as the “mensalão”(more or less the big monthly allowance), suitcases full of money regularly were brought into congressional offices, somehow bypassing security stations. These were distributed across a broad spectrum of political offices under the supervision of Lula’s Chief of Staff, José Dirceu. Ultimately, after the scandal broke, numerous members of Lula’s cabinet and other office holders lost their jobs, some eventually being indicted. Reminiscent of the Watergate scandal in the U.S., the question that surfaced regarding the president was, “What did he know and when did he know it?” While Lula was never directly implicated in the corruption, with wry humor, the joke at the time was: The good news is that Lula knew nothing about the payoffs. The bad news is that Lula knew nothing about the payoffs.

Lula’s popularity remained high throughout his presidency, enough so to allow current president Dilma Rousseff to coat-tail into the presidency after filling Dirceu’s post at the end of Lula’s second term. In August 2007, 40 participants were indicted by Brazil’s Supreme Court, almost all political allies of Lula and the PT. The trial began five years later, and many of the defendants were convicted of various charges of corruption. José Dirceu and several others were convicted of bribery (corrupção ativa).  

Even though Lula has managed to maintain a certain distance from the proceedings, his legacy has been tainted by the detailed revelations that continue to surface stemming from the trials and their aftermath. The image that has gradually supplanted that of “the one honest politician” seems to be that of “just another politician.” Those who most ardently supported Lula, and in some cases the Workers’ Party itself, have grown steadily more disillusioned.

NOTES

1. Robert M. Levine (1941-2003) was a scholar of Latin American history with a special emphasis on Brazil. When he addressed the American students in 1982, he was visiting his long-time friend and fellow historian José Carlos Sebe Bom Meihy, then the Director of the Interuniversity Study Program (ISP-USP). Years later when I was at Florida International University and Bob was at the University of Miami, he was surprised to have made such a remark, being a strong supporter of Lula’s various political activities.

2. Luis Inácio “Lula” da Silva (b. 1945) was president of Brazil from 2003-2010.

3. Paulo Salim Maluf (b. 1931) is a Brazilian politician who has held multiple state and national offices since getting appointed Mayor of the city of São Paulo in 1969, due to his personal connections to General Artur da Costa e Silva, the second military president. His appointment was made possible by the fifth Institutional Act (AI-5) of 12/13/68, that suspended most political and civil rights, recessed the national congress, and instituted direct control of political processes by the president and governors.  In 1982, Maluf was finishing his term as Governor of the state of São Paulo and demonstrated clear aspirations to the presidency. He was a candidate for the chief executive office in 1985, supported by the out-going military régime and thus expected to become Brazil’s first civilian president since the 1964 coup. However, in a surprising upset, Tancredo Neves won the indirect election held through the Electoral College.