Poor supports Brazil's president in re-election
Poor supports Brazil's president in re-election
By STAN LEHMAN, Associated Press | September 23, 2014 | Updated: September 23, 2014 11:08pm
SAO PAULO (AP) — Life may still be tough for millions of poor Brazilians — but it's also never been better.
And that's the key for President Dilma Rousseff's re-election bid.
Although Rousseff and top rival Marina Silva are locked in a virtual tie among those in the middle class, the biggest group of voters, the president has a wide edge with Brazil's poorest people because of generous welfare programs that have helped slash hunger and extreme poverty under the watch of her Workers Party.
Between 2001 and 2012, Brazil reduced extreme poverty from 14 percent of the population to 3.5 percent, according to the United Nations annual report on global food insecurity released last week. The number of malnourished people dropped from 19 percent to below 5 percent, removing Brazil from the U.N. World Hunger Map.
Tens of millions of poor people have also been lifted into the lower middle class over the past decade.
More:
http://www.chron.com/news/world/article/Poor-supports-Brazil-s-president-in-re-election-5776404.php
