IN THE NEWS - Brazilians Elect Lula

IN THE NEWS - November 2, 2002: Brazilians Elect Lula

By Caty Weaver¹

This is Steve Ember with the VOA Special English program IN THE NEWS.

Brazilians elected a new president this week. Luis Inacio Lula da Silva won sixty-one percent of the vote to
defeat Jose Serra, the ruling party candidate. The man popularly known as Lula will be sworn-in on January first.
He replaces two-term President Fernando Henrique Cardoso.

Mister da Silva was born fifty-seven years ago in Brazil’s northeastern state of
Pernambuco. He came from a very poor family. His father was a farm worker. Luis
left school while still a child. He earned money by shining shoes and selling food on
the streets of Sao Paulo. By the age of fourteen, he became a metal-worker in a
factory.

In nineteen-seventy-five, Mister da Silva became head of the one-hundredthousand-member Metalworkers Union. He came to represent opposition² to (VOA photo - Greg Flakus)
Brazil’s military government. As a labor³ leader, he was jailed for organizing a series of strikes. After his release
in nineteen-eighty, he helped to establish the Workers’
Party. It was the first major Socialist⁴ Party in the
country’s history.

Mister da Silva was a candidate for president in three earlier elections before his win on Sunday. At first, he
urged landless farm workers to invade private property. He also said Brazil should stop making payments on its
debt. In recent years, however, he has expressed moderate positions on some issues. An increase in his popularity
followed.

Brazil is the largest country in South America. About one-hundred-seventy-five-million live there. However,
about thirty percent of the population is considered needy⁵. Many of them do not get enough to eat.

Mister da Silva says a top goal of his administration will be to end hunger in Brazil. He hopes to have all
Brazilians eating three meals a day by the end of his four-year term in office. The president-elect also says he will
create ten-million new jobs and work to keep inflation low. He says the majority of Brazilians voted for such a
new economic and social model.

Mister da Silva says he will honor Brazil’s agreements with lending organizations like the International
Monetary⁶ Fund. And, he says Brazil will continue to make payments on its debt of two-hundred-sixty-thousandmillion dollars.

Some investors⁷ are concerned about Mister da Silva’s politics and his earlier criticism of lending organizations.
In recent months, individuals and foreign banks have withdrawn⁸ thousands of millions of dollars from Brazil.
The value of Brazil’s money has dropped sharply.

Mister da Silva has made several moves to ease investors’ worries. He chose a wealthy businessman as his vice-
president. Mister da Silva has offered to move forward on talks to establish a free trade area in the Americas. He
also plans to name a traditional economist⁹ to head Brazil’s central bank.

This VOA Special English program IN THE NEWS was written by Caty Weaver. This is Steve Ember.

Email this article to a friend
Printer Friendly Version

1 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。

2 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

3 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

4 socialist   

n.社会主义者；adj.社会主义的

参考例句：

• China is a socialist country,and a developing country as well.中国是一个社会主义国家，也是一个发展中国家。
• His father was an ardent socialist.他父亲是一个热情的社会主义者。

5 needy   

adj.贫穷的，贫困的，生活艰苦的

参考例句：

• Although he was poor,he was quite generous to his needy friends.他虽穷，但对贫苦的朋友很慷慨。
• They awarded scholarships to needy students.他们给贫苦学生颁发奖学金。

6 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

7 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

8 withdrawn   

vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出

参考例句：

• Our force has been withdrawn from the danger area.我们的军队已从危险地区撤出。
• All foreign troops should be withdrawn to their own countries.一切外国军队都应撤回本国去。

9 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。