Brazilians choose leftist as president
...r to express to you what a joy this is to the people of Brazil, I will state the facts and share my opinion. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva ran against Jose Serra for the position of president of Brazil. With only 95% of the votes counted Silva, who was once a shoeshine boy, but worked his way up to union boss, had won by a landslide, with 61.5% to Serra’s 31.5%. The president of the United States extended his congratulations to the new presi dent and says that he looks forward to working with him over the next four years.Silva’s being elected to the presidency was legendary because Brazil has never elected a leftist president. Its last leftist leader was Joao Goulart, a vice president who assumed power in 1961 when the centrist president resigned. Goulart served 2 1/2 years before being terminated by a right-wing military coup. Silva has critiqued current President Fernando Henrique Cardoso's unbridled free-market policies but is believed to be consideri...