By Jon Jeter Washington Post Foreign Service Monday, March 31, 2003; Page A08

Failure of Political Parties to Address Economic Crisis Fuels a Deeply Rooted Cynicism

BUENOS AIRES -- "Who will I vote for?" Alberto Dima repeats the question with a tone of bemusement as he sits in the barber's chair. "I am torn," he says, "between Shaquille O'Neal and Homer Simpson."

"No, no," Omar Menendez says as he trims Dima's thick beard. "Bart Simpson. I like Bart Simpson for president." Menendez lifts the scissors for a moment and turns to his partner, Guillermo Fonzi, awaiting customers in the chair next to him. "Guillermo, who will you vote for for president?"

"You are both crazy," replies Fonzi without lifting his gaze from a magazine. "I am voting for Clemente," referring to a popular cartoon character here.

"Ah, this country," he adds with disgust. "We have this horrible economic crisis and our politicians give us nothing but clowns and crooks to choose from for our next president."

Perhaps the most jarring element of the gravest economic crisis this country has ever known is a lack of faith among Argentines in their politicians' willingness or ability to help. With less than a month left before they go to the polls to choose a new president, voters responding to public opinion polls here show only contempt and indifference toward the five front-running presidential candidates.

"People were angry initially," said Victor Abramovich, executive director of the Center for Legal and Social Studies. "But we've seen that anger dissolve into disgust and that disgust dissolve into apathy. There is this abiding cynicism in most of our politicians, our political parties, virtually all of our democratic institutions. People don't believe that they are going to make their lives better and you're really seeing this revolution of indifference in Argentina."

So far, no one candidate has been able to muster as much as 20 percent of voter support in any published opinion poll. According to election rules, a candidate must capture at least 46 percent of the vote or outdistance the next closest candidate by at least 10 percentage points to avert a runoff.

"People are hungry both for food and for leadership, said Dima, 54, a wholesale liquor salesman. "We have neither. And so there is this . . . gallows humor, that the people have adopted. We are not giving up but no one is placing their faith in our politicians to improve our situation even though they are responsible."

The apathy stands in contrast to the rage in December 2001 that led thousands of Argentines into the streets to protest after the government devalued the peso. Depositors' life savings were wiped out virtually overnight and the sometimes violent demonstrations forced the resignation of President Fernando de la Rua, and, in short order, three of his appointed successors.

There are signs that the country may start to rebound from its deep recession, but the situation is grave. Once Latin America's most prosperous country, Argentina has an unemployment rate of almost 20 percent. Government statistics indicate that since December 2001, the percentage of Argentina's 37 million people living on less than $250 a month has jumped from 38 to 58.

Many Argentines participate in nascent grass-roots efforts to provide the poor with jobs, health care and education rather than depending on the promises of political parties. Even the vaunted Peronist Party, founded by the late dictator Juan Peron and his wife, Eva "Evita" Peron, is in disarray.

A party feud between the caretaker president, Eduardo Duhalde, and his bitter rival, former president Carlos Menem, has led to an unprecedented electoral season in which no presidential candidate will appear on the ballot with the official Peronist endorsement.

Instead, three Peronists are running -- Menem; Duhalde's handpicked successor, Nestor Kirchner; and Adolfo Rodriguez Saa, who was driven from office after serving for only a few days as one of the caretakers appointed to succeed de la Rua. They will face off on April 27 against Ricardo Lopez Murphy of the opposition Radical Party and Elisa Carrio, a former Peronist who has now joined a small party called Alternative for a Republic of Equals.

Kirchner holds a slight advantage in the polls against Menem, who stepped down in 1999 after 10 years in office. His administration instituted a broad program of privatization and free-market reforms, but was marked by widespread charges of corruption.

With campaign slogans such as "Menem knows how to do it," the former president has managed to capitalize on the electorate's nostalgia but has been unable to surpass even 15 percent of voter support in the polls, typically trailing the moderate Kirchner by a few percentage points. The largest proportion of voters are undecided. The Duhalde government has acknowledged that voter apathy is high.

"The numbers on public participation are not the ones we would like to see," Interior Minister Jorge Matzkin told reporters recently.

Adults here are required by law to cast ballots, but in October 2001 midterm elections, nearly 40 percent of the electorate cast spoiled or blank ballots or voted for write-in candidates. Political analysts say that next month's election totals could easily rival that figure.

"Many of my friends say they will cast their ballot for Clemente," said Axel Kraefft, 21, a computer programmer, who said he would vote for Lopez Murphy.

"People really feel like our politicians are the same: out of touch or corrupt," he said. "I think probably the two most popular politicians in Argentina right now are Lula and [Rudolph W.] Giuliani," he said, referring to Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Brazil's newly elected populist president, and the former mayor of New York. Giuliani, known here for his crackdown on crime, is popular among Argentines weary of growing urban lawlessness.

Some say that the leadership crisis is a product of Argentina's history. Democracy returned only 20 years ago, following a brutal military dictatorship that came to power in a 1976 coup that created a vacuum in the development of democratic institutions.

Human rights groups have said as many as 20,000 people were killed in the "dirty war" of the 1970s, when the Argentine military abducted university students, teachers, intellectuals and labor organizers, all of whom became known as the disappeared.

"There is an entire class of our potential leaders gone," said Abramovich. "It is impossible to replace them, and so the consequence is a greatly diminished political body."

The impact of the dirty war has not been forgotten.

"We're essentially missing an entire generation of our best and brightest," said Menendez, the barber. "The bill has to come due sooner or later. Who can say how many people were among those . . . who disappeared who could have actually inspired Argentines?"

Planetark.org BRAZIL: March 31, 2003

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil - Environmental activists reacted angrily last week to a Brazilian government measure allowing the sale of genetically modified soybeans, while farmers were worried about its terms and temporary nature.

Traders said the measure dispelled uncertainty about marketing of this year's record harvest and would boost trade in Rio Grande do Sul, the No.3 soy producer state in Brazil, which is the world's second largest soy producer and exporter.

About 80 percent of the soy crop in Rio Grande and 12 percent of the national crop is privately estimated to be transgenic.

"It's a serious attack on Brazilian justice," said Greenpeace genetics campaigner Mariana Paoli.

Transgenic crops are banned in Brazil while a federal court considers whether the government's commission on biotechnology, CTNBio, has the authority to approve their commercial planting and sale.

On Wednesday, the president's spokesman said that a provisional measure would be published last week allowing GM soybeans to be sold until the end of Jan. 2004.

Paoli charged that President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's government had broken an election pledge to adopt a precautionary approach toward GM crops, carry out environmental impact studies and stop illegal planting.

"The worst thing is that the government is now allowing domestic sales of GM soy, Brazilians will be consuming a product that hasn't received either health or environmental approval," Paoli said.

PRODUCER CONCERN

Producers, while pleased that GM soybeans could be marketed this year, were unhappy about labeling requirements and worried about the future.

"It won't be easy to fulfill the provisional measure because nobody is ready to segregate the harvest," said Rui Polidoro Pinto, President of the Agricultural and Livestock Cooperatives of Rio Grande do Sul (Fecoagro).

Pinto complained that the process of certification, involving the segregation of conventional and GM soybeans, starts before planting, but harvesting has already started.

He also noted that 25 percent of Rio Grande do Sul's soy crop had been sold in advance without definition of the type of grain.

The president of the Rio Grande do Sul Agricultural Federation (Farsul), Carlos Sperotto, agreed.

"We aren't equipped to segregate and label," he said, adding that arrangements for 2004 must be debated widely in congress and the courts.

Farm workers were apprehensive.

"It only applies for this harvest. We want a wide debate to fix clear rules for next year," said Elisario Toledo of the Federation of Agricultural Workers of Rio Grande (Fetag), noting that there were 142,000 soybean growers in the state.

Rio Grande do Sul is expected to produce 7.8 million tonnes of soybeans in 2002/03, up 39 percent from last crop season, according to the government's crop supply agency Conab. It forecast the national crop rising 18 percent to 49.6 million tonnes.

Soy traders said that at this late stage in the crop cycle, the government had no option but to allow the marketing of transgenic soybeans in 2003.

"Harvesting has already started in Rio Grande and banning GM soy now would hurt too many people," said a grain trading manager in the state capital Porto Alegre.

Uncertainty about government policy had brought soy trading to a virtual standstill in the southern state.

"It's been painfully slow. We're way behind last year," the manager said.

Analysts noted that six harvests of transgenic soybeans had been marketed in Rio Grande do Sul without problem or publicity.

"However GM soy has now become a soap opera," said Anderson Galvao Gomes, soy analyst at Celeres-MPrado.

Story by Peter Blackburn

BBC

Brazil's centre-left government has offered workers an inflation-busting 20% rise in the minimum wage beginning from Tuesday.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and his Workers' Party (PT) promised during last October's elections to double the minimum wage within four years.

The monthly minimum wage has been increased by more than the 15.9% inflation recorded for the 12 months to February to 240 reals (£45; $71).

But the increase will cause further inflationary pressures.

A recent review of the International Monetary Fund's $30bn loan to Brazil has set an inflation ceiling of 17.5% for the 12 months to September, up from a previous target of 9.5%

Inflation pressure

Last week, metalworkers in Sao Paulo state went on strike, marking the first large labour dispute to confront Mr da Silva since he took office on 1 January.

Forca Sindical, one of Brazil's two leading union confederations, which represents the metalworkers called for a 10% pay rise to compensate for inflation.

Brazil's central bank predicted on Monday that inflation would hit 10.8% in 2003 - up from the previous 9.5% estimate - and fall to 4.1% in 2004.

The bank has raised interest rates five consecutive times to 26.5% to reign in inflation, caused by last year's currency devaluation and high energy prices.

The high interest rate is blamed for rising unemployment, which in February rose by 0.4 points to 11.6%.

Unions satisfied

The minimum wage applies mainly to civil servants in Brazil and has a significant impact on state finances because pensions are also indexed to it.

"Everyone knows that the president would like to allow a greater increase, but budgetary restraints don't permit (it presently)," said presidential spokesman Andre Singer.

He added it would cost the government an extra 1bn reals a year.

"That is not an ideal value, but it is what was possible at this moment," said Paulo Pereira da Silva, head of the Forca Sindical union of industrial workers.

"We are satisfied because we know that the government is committed to doubling the minimum salary in four years."

The minimum wage is largely ignored by the private sector.

A third of Brazil's 176 million people live in poverty.

<a href=Brazil's War on Hunger Off to a Slow Start>The NY Times By LARRY ROHTER

BRASÍLIA — The day after he was elected president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva announced that his administration's top priority would be to guarantee that every Brazilian could eat three meals a day. But five months after he warned that "the hungry are in a hurry" and promised immediate help, his "Zero Hunger" program has generated more controversy than results.

The reasons for the delay, critics say, range from the new government's lack of administrative experience to a protracted philosophical debate that has slowed the opening of the program. Should the help be delivered as food stamps, a cash transfer or handouts of food? Should receipts be required? A single national menu or regional variations?

"Society is mobilized to break this vicious circle of poverty and hunger," José Graziano, the chief of the government's new Ministry of Food Security, acknowledged in an interview here. "There is a great deal of expectation, and we are having difficulty keeping up with it."

Popular support for the program is indeed remarkably strong, with affluent neighborhoods organizing gift campaigns and large companies offering free advertising, phone lines and other services. But when newspapers recently reported that a $15,000 check that the Brazilian model Gisele Bundchen donated after appearing in a January fashion show had not yet been cashed, the program came under attack.

"Bureaucracy 10, Hunger 0" read one headline. Another daily titled its report "Amateurism 1, Hunger 0."

At the moment, only two towns, Guaribas and Acauã in the state of Piauí, in the remote semiarid interior are taking part in a pilot version of the program, which has a budget of just over $500 million for this year. By midyear, Mr. Graziano predicted, at least 150 cities will be taking part in the program, with the number rising to 1,000 by year's end.

But the residents of one town chosen said they really needed greater access to clean water, not food. They also complained that they were allowed to spend the monthly payment only on basic foodstuffs, not on medicine, clothing, schoolbooks or other items that they might need more.

"We are starting with those measures that require the smallest investment," Mr. Graziano said. "But this is a long-term program with more than 60 elements."

The government seems unsure, however, of how many people it will eventually need to serve. During the campaign, Mr. da Silva spoke of more than 50 million hungry Brazilians, out of a total population of 176 million. But once he was elected, some of his advisers began using the more modest number favored by the government's statistical service, about 18 million people.

Some of the confusion may be linguistic. Brazilians tend to use a single word — fome — interchangeably to refer to hunger, malnutrition, famine and starvation. It is also not clear whether potential beneficiaries are going hungry or simply reporting low incomes, an important distinction in a country in which millions live from subsistence agriculture.

The aid for hungry families has also been scaled back, reflecting the austerity measures Mr. da Silva has been forced to put into effect as part of an agreement with the International Monetary Fund. On the campaign trail, he talked of stipends of as much as $70 a month, but the Zero Hunger effort will, at least initially, be limited to a $15 monthly payment.

In the face of the delays, Zilda Arns, director of Brazil's most successful social assistance program for needy children, affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church recently cautioned that the government "shouldn't try to reinvent the wheel." While "it is natural for people to want to present their own ideas and innovate," she said, "the good administrator knows how to look at what is already working."

But the officials running the Zero Hunger effort are uniformly critical of the efforts of the previous government of Fernando Henrique Cardoso, which in December were commended by the United Nations. Although Education Minister Cristovam Buarque has suggested using an existing school voucher program to administer the food benefits, the Ministry of Food Security argues that that plan and others like it are flawed.

"The official registry is not reliable," said Carlos Alberto Libanio Christo, a Dominican friar and senior adviser to Mr. da Silva who has been detailed to the food program. There were people on the registry who should not have been getting aid and people not on the list who should been, he said.

Before Mr. Cardoso took power in 1995, "Brazil probably had three dozen hunger and nutrition programs, which were often little more than political patronage, poorly run and coordinated, with a lot of waste and incompetence," said Nancy Birdsall of the Center for Global Development in Washington, who formerly monitored social programs in Brazil for the World Bank. "But I think that a lot got cleaned up under the Cardoso government."

Friar Christo said Zero Hunger would avoid any return to political patronage by funneling aid directly to the needy rather than through local officials. But in some areas, opposition mayors are threatening not to take part in the program, arguing that the new structure, which includes local supervisory councils, is intended to advance the interests of congressional and state deputies who belong to Mr. da Silva's governing Workers' Party.

"A ministry is not the right path" because "you create one more structure and resolve nothing," Mauro Morelli, a Catholic bishop long involved in antihunger efforts, warned recently. "Without a partnership with society," he said, "government finds it difficult to escape from two terrible things: bureaucracy and corruption."

<a href=www.voanews.com>VOA News 30 Mar 2003, 02:10 UTC

The World Bank has agreed to loan Brazil $505 million to help finance social programs.

World Bank President James Wolfensohn and Brazil's Finance Minister Antonio Palocci signed the loan agreement Saturday in Brasilia.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva met with Mr. Wolfensohn to explain his plans for social reforms, including a "Zero Hunger" program aimed at providing money for food to poor Brazilians. But Reuters news service quotes Mr. Palocci as saying the loan funds are not earmarked for a specific project.

Mr. Wolfensohn said he was very impressed by the Brazilian government's commitment to providing social services while addressing economic problems.

Brazil has been struggling to recover after economic crises both there and in neighboring Argentina. But the nation relies heavily on foreign investment, which has dropped because of tensions over the war in Iraq.