What Naive U.S. newspapers are saying

-0-      Chicago Tribune      Brazilians' rejoiced over the inauguration of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on New Year's Day with all the unwarranted optimism of Cubs fans in spring training.      Indeed, there's probably reason to expect the Cubs will have a better 2003 than South America's largest nation. This is a country in desperate need of economic reform and an expansion of its export markets. It's hard to see how that will come from the new president, a leftist who has crusaded against free trade.      And yet hundreds of thousands in Brasilia gave Lula, as the new president is popularly known, a rousing welcome. Polls indicate that nearly 80 percent of the population believes the new government will be "good to excellent."      There is one reason for Brazil to feel good: Lula's inauguration Wednesday marked the first time in 40 years that one civilian president in Brazil has handed power to another peacefully. ...      A Brazilian newspaper called Lula's challenge, to balance populist expectations and fiscally responsible policies, "walking on a knife's edge." The U.S. may be tempted to wait for him to slip off the edge, but the potential economic consequences are too grave. Better to offer a hand and hope that Lula, unlikely as it may be, is open to persuasion.