Between the Lines

by Laura Arenschield

I got excited for the first time in a long time about an election last Sunday. Because for the first time in a long time, I thought there was a chance that the person elected would change people’s lives. Drastically.

I watched CNN and the Associated Press wire all night for the results. And when Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva won the Brazilian presidency, I swear I almost cried for joy.

Most Americans probably do not know who Lula is. Most Americans probably do not know much about life in Brazil — and why should they? Few of our daily lives seem to be affected by Brazil’s politics.

This summer, I went to Brazil. I spent three weeks in Rio de Janeiro’s slums learning about lives I never had known existed. I studied Brazilian history, culture and politics. I woke up early and stayed up late and spent every hour soaking in the new world around me. And when I came home, as corny as it sounds, a piece of Brazil came with me.

I watched Rio’s street children — some not more than 7 years old — pour gasoline on their shirts and inhale the fumes to get high. I shopped in grocery stores where police walked the aisles wearing ammunition strapped criss-cross over their chests and carrying automatic weapons. One night, on a walk back to my room, I saw a middle-aged homeless man carefully arrange a piece of cardboard around a middle-aged homeless woman so she would have her own space for sleep. I saw so many things that will haunt me for as long as I live. Because in my sheltered little existence, kept safe from the ugly things in life, I never knew just how much people suffer.

This is not to say all Brazilians are destitute. Some areas of Rio de Janeiro boast posh, plush apartments that overlook postcard-perfect beaches. Beautiful people exercise constantly along powdery shorelines. But the people that suffer are many, and I believe Lula can help them.

For as developed as Brazil is, the country faces more problems than I think it can handle. Brazil has a homicide rate of 27:100,000. Young children roam urban streets, not because their families do not want them but because their families cannot afford them. Drug use makes slumlords of dealers. Police violence turns poor families away from government and toward additional brutality. Because of lax industry regulations, there is not a beach in Rio that is not polluted. The country’s overall debt burden has risen to more than $250 billion.

Many U.S. investors are worried Lula will allow Brazil to default on its international loans, creating a situation much like that in Argentina. As support for his candidacy grew, the Brazilian ••real•• plummeted, weakening the economy.

Lula has promised to pay off Brazil’s loans but has said he will fight to reduce trade barriers in an effort to force “rich countries” to lower protective barriers and subsidies that hurt Brazil’s agricultural exports. He already has implemented programs to fight hunger and housing problems — important to the more than 50 million Brazilians who live in poverty. His intended policies might not be ideal for the United States, but, for the first time, Brazilians will have a president who cares more about critical Brazilian issues instead of international happiness.

The United States needs to have a foreign policy supportive of Brazil — the country quickly is approaching status as a “First World Country.” I’m not naïve enough to believe that the United States should develop a policy based on being “nice” to those people who are suffering so deeply. Politicians should consider the benefits of a friendly relationship with Brazil: a large Latin American trading partner, regional stability and repayment of international loans. But as a student and as someone who’s seen that side of life up close, part of me wishes we could develop a favorable foreign policy just because it’s right.