WEYMOUTH: What are your plans as president?
LULA: Although Brazil is a country with extraordinary potential, 50 million people live below the poverty line. Brazil is not a poor country but a country with social inequities, and this is a major issue. The wealth has been concentrated in the hands of a few. So we have made a commitment to reach out to the poorest [sectors].
There are high expectations and you’ve promised to create jobs. How can you do that given Brazil’s dire economic situation?
Not much public money is required. Only [increased] production will give Brazil the conditions needed to reduce interest rates and generate the jobs that we need.
Who will you name as governor of the Central Bank? Will the Central Bank be autonomous?
No country in the world has come under so much pressure during the election campaign regarding the appointment of the governor of the Central Bank. I cannot give in to the international markets’ pressure. I’m not concerned with autonomy of the Central Bank. It’s not a major issue.
Are you willing to tell U.S. investors that you will not renegotiate Brazil’s debt?
You can tell American investors that we will fulfill all of the contracts the Brazilian government has signed.
You’ve been critical of the U.S. initiative to create a free-trade area of the Americas. Why?
I favor a free-trade policy, but we need to guarantee equal opportunities among the participating countries.
What did you talk to President Bush about today?
He congratulated me on my victory and said he would like to meet me. I told the president that I also am interested in meeting him, and recognize the importance of the United States. It’s our main trading partner, and we intend to improve our relationship.
Will you support a U.S.-led attack on Iraq?
I wouldn’t like to see wars between one country and another. I’m a man who loves peace. The decision should not be unilateral on the United States’ part.
Will your administration maintain the tight fiscal discipline which is a condition for IMF loans to your country?
We will fulfill all the contracts that Brazil has signed… I would like not to have to borrow one dollar from the IMF. I would prefer to see Brazil increase its industrial production and exports.
Is the left wing [of your Workers Party] going to give you a chance to carry out reforms?
If you have a right-wing radical on one side and a left-wing radical on the other side, it’s possible for me to become the road to the center.
How much have you moved to the center? Have you really changed?
I believe that I have changed and that Brazil has changed. It would be stupid if I had not changed, a man who has reached 57 years of age, who has suffered all kinds of prejudices, who has run four times for the presidency. I can guarantee you that Brazil has changed. Never before have so many businessmen been on our side.
Some people say that you’re like Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez, or Cuba’s Fidel Castro. Others argue you’re more centrist, like former U.S. president Bill Clinton. How do you see yourself?
When I started in the labor movement, the communists used to say I was a CIA agent. The right wing used to say I was a communist. I never was a communist and I never was a CIA agent. I was just a Brazilian who had the trust of my fellow workers, whom I represented in the metal workers’ union. It is not possible to make any comparison between Lula and Chavez. I have a political party and a labor movement. We have structures in Brazil that are much more institutionalized than in Venezuela. I remember telling President Chavez, “I would advise you to be more political. A president cannot fight with everybody at the same time.” In relation to Cuba, let’s not confuse the passion that my generation has for the Cuban revolution and what it represented then with any approval of the Cuban regime today. I defend religious freedom, cultural freedom, freedom for trade unions and political freedom.
