Lula of Brazil: The Story So Far

Richard Bourne
Lula of Brazil: The Story So Far
London: Zed Books, 2008, ISBN: 978 1 84813 011 1, 285pp.

On the very last page of his book (231), Richard Bourne makes two statements which confirm the importance of this work for those interested not only in the history of Brazilian politics, but also in the trajectory of the life and career of Luiz Incio Lula da Silva. In the first, he says 'For as long as he lives he will be an influence in Brazilian politics'. In the second, summarising the personality of the current president, he states, 'His challenge is personal'. Bourne does not mean, with this last sentence, that Lula is concerned to project a flattering image of himself, as did his predecessor, Fernando Henrique Cardoso. He refers to the journey taken by a poor child from the north-east of Brazil, obliged by necessity to migrate to So Paulo, as a teenager living in precarious conditions and forced to work to help to provide for his family; as a youth mostly concerned with having fun, just like any other young man; all the way up to his election to the highest post in the country.

This is the first high point of the book, which reveals to us how Lula's commitment to the poorest segments and/or the excluded populations of Brazil was constructed. Unlike Getlio Vargas, the former dictator and president, who died in 1956 and was known as the 'Father of the Poor' but came from wealthy origins, Lula's starting point is his own life experience and a strong feeling of indignation for what social inequality represents. Hence his organic link with the dispossessed, which originates more from emotion than from the influence of Catholicism (and Bourne refers to the grassroots Catholicism of the Comunidades Eclesiais de Base [CEBs] and Liberation Theology), or from his friends on the left, starting with one of his brothers, Vava, who was a member of the Brazilian Communist Party (PCB).

Lula's political path would be based more on the sentiments generated by his life experiences than on any kind of ideology: from his youthful alienation to his indignation at the tortures to which his older brother was submitted; from his acceptance of a seemingly insignificant post in the trade union movement to his rise as the leader of the 'new trade unionism' and the great strikes of 1978 and 1979 which swept through So Paulo's manufacturing zone (the ABC Paulista); and finally the creation of the Brazilian Workers' Party (PT) and his emergence as the authentic representative of the workers in Brazilian politics.

The first half of the book flows in a pleasing and well-structured way. The book is not flawless, however. Concerning the bomb attack on Rio Centro (p. 54), which later proved to have been perpetrated by elements of the military, seeking to justify further political repression, Bourne reports that an army sergeant and a captain were killed. In truth, not only did the captain survive, he was allowed to keep working without any sort of punishment. There are minor mistakes such as misspelling the name of the Brazilian Institute of Geography (p. 63) and that of the ex-owner of a television network, Silvio Santos, who was a candidate for governor of the state of So Paulo (p.72).

The weakest aspect of this book, which impairs the analysis of many facts, is Bourne's uncritical comparison between the failures and successes of Lula's presidency (and even before that) and the role performed by the Brazilian media, which are dominated by a corporate sector that works undeniably in the service of capital. When addressing the role of the TV network, Rede Globo, for example, as a supporter of the campaign for direct elections, 'Campanha Diretas Ja' (p.61), the author fails to acknowledge that this support was offered only after the movement had become so strong as to make it hard to ignore. And, in turning to Veja magazine (as demonstrated throughout the text and many of the footnotes) as one of his main sources of information for the analysis of Lula's first presidency and the beginning of the second, the author naively allows himself to use data that in many cases are tendentious and 'contaminated' (biased), even where these are based on real criticisms.

This flaw repeats itself in relation to political facts of the present day, which are rallying calls of the Left against the government: for example, the proposal to re-route the mighty So Francisco River, a controversial and crucial issue, affecting the lives of millions of underprivileged Brazilians (riverside communities, indigenous tribes, communities of runaway slaves (quilombolas), and traditional and small farming communities). Bourne falls into an ambush set by his sources and expresses himself from their point of view, in favour of the repositioning of the river, which will benefit the large-scale North-eastern farmers (latifundirios) and their monocultures. This is so much so that, going back to the topic in question (p. 220), he even mentions the river's repositioning as a positive example of the government's use of 'federal funds' for 'development'. Development for whom? I dare to ask.

For the non-Brazilian reader, the second half of the book, when the subject is Lula in power, suffers from a tendency to skate over subjects which he starts to address, but which will only be fully explained in later chapters, thus making it hard to follow the critical argument developed by the author. Lula's profound mistake, made on his third run for the presidency (in which he was finally elected), in deciding to create alliances with several minority parties, partidos nanicos, with its horrendous consequences for Brazilian politics, is mentioned several times, forcing any reader who lacks relevant knowledge on the topic to try to assemble something of a jigsaw puzzle. The impression given is that this second half of the book was written in a bit of a rush, without the precise organisation of ideas present in the first half.

Bourne's views on Lula's politics in the international arena, challenging the hegemony of the USA and directed towards Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, rightly portray one of the high points of the current Lula government. From a Brazilian point of view, the author's analysis of Brazilian conservatism, present in the President himself, is pictured as a fitting backdrop in order to explain much of the dubious politics of our society. One particular example is 'snobbishness' (which I would call prejudice) inherent in the continued portrayal of Lula by the media as an uncultured migrant worker, despite his undeniable charisma, while in other countries (p. 220) similar trajectories are celebrated as great victories.

The increasing detachment of Lula from a PT which has increasingly disregarded its ethical principles, and indeed its own political platform, is another very important point which the author challenges the reader to think about. And on this note, we return to the beginning of this review: while Lula's place in the future of Brazilian politics seems assured, and even though (at the time of writing) he still has a year and a half left of his presidency, the Workers' Party is languishing. Will Lula manage to prepare the ground for his successor, asks Bourne. There is no guarantee. But one thing is certain: the road that the political future of Brazil takes will of necessity pass through Lula. As to the final evaluation of his time in office, history will decide.