Brazil's President Lula Approval Rating Hits Record 77.7% -Poll

[bemildred]

Source: DowJones

SAO PAULO -(Dow Jones)- Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva polled an all-time record personal approval rating of 77.7% amid continued robust economic growth, according to a poll released Monday by the Sensus polling organization.

His popularity among voting-age Brazilians actually rose from 69.3% in the last poll in April and even outstripped his previous record approval of 69.9% just after he was elected in 2003.

Similarly, the popularity of his left-leaning Workers' Party, or PT, government rose to a record 68.8%, breaking the previous record of 57.5% set in April

According to Sensus poll-takers, the president and the government's popularity remains founded on Brazil's robust economic performance. The economy grew 6.1% in the second quarter, building on growth of 5.4% in 2007, and is likely to expand around 5.0% this year.

Read more: DowJones

[Orrex]

1. How may Brazillions is that?

...

[dipsydoodle]

2. Good

and pleased to learn that.

[bemildred]

4. Apparently good government pays. nt

[bitchkitty]

3. Go Luiz!

I hope this leftward trend keeps spreading. I hope it spreads North. It could be the good thing that comes from our financial mess.

Yea, I know I'm dreaming...

[WriteDown]

5. Love this...

But he still needs to continue working to save the rain forest. I plan to go back there soon!

[TheWraith]

6. Sounds good. Let's buy him.

I mean, I'm sure he'll need a couple weeks or so to get used to our government up here, but he really can't be any worse than the president we're using now.

[Judi Lynn]

7. Silva says poor to benefit from Brazil oil profits

September 22, 2008, 10:45AM ET text size: TT
Silva says poor to benefit from Brazil oil profits

BRASILIA, Brazil

Brazil's president says his nation will use profits from recently discovered oil reserves to help ease a deep divide between rich and poor.

Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva says government statistics show that misery is on the decline in Latin America's most populous nation -- but that more work must be done and the oil profits can be harnessed to reduce inequality and improve education.

Silva made the comments Monday about Brazilian offshore reserves that may hold as much as 55 billion barrels of crude.

Separately, an executive with the state-run oil company tells the O Estado de S. Paulo newspaper that Petrobras may need to revamp its international investment plan to tap the reserves.

http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D93BR0V00.htm

[Judi Lynn]

8. Brazil Booms by Going Lula's Way - Time Magazine

Brazil Booms by Going Lula's Way
By Tim Padgett & Andrew Downie/Brasilia
Friday, Sep. 19, 2008

With their endless strings of pearly beaches, heavenly climate and sensual bossa nova culture, Brazilians regard themselves as uniquely blessed. So last fall, when massive oil reserves were discovered off the coast near Rio de Janeiro, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva saw it as further proof of a celestial bond. "God," he gushed, "is Brazilian."

That kind of good fortune, divine or not, has helped Lula, 62, a former union leader, become the country's most popular President in half a century. Even without the oil find — which could make Brazil one of the world's largest crude producers — the economy is growing vigorously, and the nation's notorious social inequality is receding. What's more, Brazil is flexing a newfound diplomatic clout as the hemisphere's first real counterweight to the U.S. (Lula led the creation of a bloc of developing nations, the G-20, to thwart U.S. and European hegemony in global trade talks.) "I believe implicitly that Brazil has found its way," he told TIME in a rare interview at the Planalto presidential palace in Brasília.

When he addresses the United Nations General Assembly in New York City this week, Lula will hope to retire the old joke that Brazil is the country of the future and always will be. Instead, he'll tell his peers among the world's leadership that his country is finally realizing its potential. ("We'll be one of the six biggest economies in the world within 10 years," he boasts.) And he'll argue that Brazil deserves a permanent seat on the Security Council.

That may be a dream too far, but many in the audience will acknowledge that the bearded, gravelly voiced President has been a revelation. When he was first elected in 2002, many U.S. experts on Latin America worried that he and his leftist Workers Party would trash Brazil's economy by pursuing socialist and populist policies. But Lula stuck to the market-oriented fiscal reforms of his predecessor, Fernando Henrique Cardoso. Those policies, plus a windfall from high global prices for Brazilian products like soybeans and steel, helped Lula tame the country's notorious hyperinflation and create a boom — growth will be 5% or more again this year.

More:
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1842918,00.html?xid=rss-world