MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

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  :o))

  Expect too many “IFs” and “BUTs”

  Mar 19th, 2018 - 09:40 am - Link - Report abuse 0
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  MarkWhelan

  “Former Brazilian President Lula da Silva launched a book Friday in which he says he is “ready” to go to jail and serve a 12-year and one-month sentence on a corruption charge conviction.”
  As a resident of Brasil all I can say about this is that the majority of the people I know here in Brasil are willing to let him.
  My comment is not politically biased as I am unable to vote here in Brasil.

  Mar 19th, 2018 - 12:22 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
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  :o))

  Watch the soap opera - the political drama - unfold into plenty of bits & pieces of OOOHs & AAAHs when the sentence miraculously disappears or is indefinitely postponed or is reduced to a bare minimum [for the name-sake only; to satisfy the ignorant masses] to be in a luxurious 5-Star prison!

  Mar 19th, 2018 - 01:51 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
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  Jack Bauer

  Give Lula a case of “51” and he'll be happy, spending his lonely days in a drunken stupor. And he'll be able to receive one visit a week from Dilma...how exciting.

  Mar 19th, 2018 - 06:42 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
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  Enrique Massot

  This is what a real leader does. Lula knows the risks of facing the privileged and their decision to hold to power by any means, but still puts himself on the line--something most of his detractors will never dare to do.
  
  Most Brazilians should be commended for seeing through the fog of lies and calumny and still persevering in their support for Mr. da Silva.

  Mar 19th, 2018 - 07:14 pm - Link - Report abuse -1
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  Jack Bauer

  EM
  Oh Reekie, my heart bleeds for you, and Lula....real “leader” ? perhaps, but also the most corrupt Brazil has ever had the displeasure of knowing....he and his cronies broke PB and pushed Brazil 20 years in time, and yet you, from the comfort of your hideout in Canada, and free of the effects of his and Dilma's disastrous policies, praise him....you're funny Reekie, if you lived here perhaps you wouldn't love him so much.
  “Puts himself on the line...” sorry, didn't quite understand that remark....if he ever put himself “on the line”, it was when he started to steal....just a dirty, common criminal.

  Mar 20th, 2018 - 05:49 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
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  :o))

  REF: “Brazil's FIRST political prisoner”: Does it REALLY mean that there are GOING TO BE many more corrupt political leaders in the queue, after Lulla??

  Mar 23rd, 2018 - 01:20 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
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  Enrique Massot

  @JackB
  
  Lula da Silva (and his cronies) “broke PB and pushed Brazil 20 years in time.”
  
  Whoa! Can't say JB oozes sympathy for Lula. But is it a fair assessment? Not according to most sources, which consistently point out to a lot of achievements during Lula's presidency.
  
  ”Under Lula the country found new markets for its products...helping the country achieve relative prosperity in the decade of the 2000s (and) tightened its relationship with China, now its most important trading partner.” (Nacla, 2011).
  
  And then, this--not a small achievement in Brazil, one of most unequal countries: “According to the World Bank, the poverty rate fell from 22% to 7% between 2003 and 2009.”
  
  Was Lula perfect? Not at all. He made mistakes according to Nacla.
  
  “The greatest disappointment to Lula’s longtime supporters has been his rejection of agrarian reform and his promotion of large-scale agriculture. Small cooperative farms produce more food, use land more productively, and create more jobs than the same amount of land in large-scale commercial farms.”
  
  Indeed, a costly mistake. However, do mistakes invalidate the improvements to millions of Brazilians?
  
  Yes, according to Jack.
  
  Brazil really needs more Lula--or Lulas--not less.

  Mar 23rd, 2018 - 07:30 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
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  :o))

  @EM:
  
  ALL of us are entitled to have his/her very own FAVOURITE crook!
  
  REF: “Brazil really needs more Lullas”: Luckily, your wish is granted ALREADY! ALL the political parties are FULL of them! Who ELSE do you think are raping the country?

  Mar 24th, 2018 - 05:14 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
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  Jack Bauer

  @EM
  “Whoa !” don't get excited... realized I had missed out a word, ‘n am surprised that you understood what I was getting at, despite the mistake..so I apologize ; the sentence should read “broke PB and pushed Brazil ”BACK” 20 years in time.”
  When I said “pushed back 20 years”, was referring to the “UNemployment” rate, or the nbr of people unemployed, trying to get back into the work force, as it’s the single most debilitating factor in a bad economy. In 1999, the rate was 7,5%. 1st qtr 2001, 6,4% ; 1st qtr 2012, 5,5% ; 1st qtr 2013, 5,7%; 1st qtr 2017, btwn 13,1 & 13,7% (depending on the methodology used) or, mol 14 million people…
  
  A few months after Dilma was (finally) kicked out (Aug 2016) the rate started to decrease, i.e, get better . In 2015, 1st year of her 2nd term, the rate was the worst in over 20 years. The upward trend in the rate (getting worse) started end 2014, ‘n worsened in 2015, as her lies about the state of the economy surfaced.
  
  You keep on harping about Lula’s achievements…which are, exactly ? the Bolsa familia ?? while it did prevent people from going hungry (the concept of which was implemented in FHC's government), it did NOT raise anyone out of poverty.
  What other achievements are there, which didn’t already exist in one form or another, and were simply perfected ?...which btw, should be the natural sequence of things over the years, anyway.
  Lula however, did ignore the importance of the US as a trading partner ; Commodity exports to China were great, but their exports to Brazil killed most local textile and footwear industries...what else did/does Brazil import from them ? useless shit that could be produced here, IF china had comparable labour costs.
  
  Re agrarian reform, the notion that tiny landowners/ farmers could feed Brazil is a joke ; the agribusiness, the largest export sector in Brazil, did not receive its due support from him, either. So, what “longlasting’ improvements” are you talking about ??

  Mar 24th, 2018 - 10:23 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
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  :o))

  I TOLD you so:
  http://www.chargeonline.com.br/php/DODIA//nani.jpg

  Mar 25th, 2018 - 10:03 am - Link - Report abuse 0
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