

Currently released so far... 12689 / 251,287
Browse latest releases
2010/12/01
2010/12/02
2010/12/03
2010/12/04
2010/12/05
2010/12/06
2010/12/07
2010/12/08
2010/12/09
2010/12/10
2010/12/11
2010/12/12
2010/12/13
2010/12/14
2010/12/15
2010/12/16
2010/12/17
2010/12/18
2010/12/19
2010/12/20
2010/12/21
2010/12/22
2010/12/23
2010/12/24
2010/12/25
2010/12/26
2010/12/27
2010/12/28
2010/12/29
2010/12/30
2011/01/01
2011/01/02
2011/01/04
2011/01/05
2011/01/07
2011/01/09
2011/01/10
2011/01/11
2011/01/12
2011/01/13
2011/01/14
2011/01/15
2011/01/16
2011/01/17
2011/01/18
2011/01/19
2011/01/20
2011/01/21
2011/01/22
2011/01/23
2011/01/24
2011/01/25
2011/01/26
2011/01/27
2011/01/28
2011/01/29
2011/01/30
2011/01/31
2011/02/01
2011/02/02
2011/02/03
2011/02/04
2011/02/05
2011/02/06
2011/02/07
2011/02/08
2011/02/09
2011/02/10
2011/02/11
2011/02/12
2011/02/13
2011/02/14
2011/02/15
2011/02/16
2011/02/17
2011/02/18
2011/02/19
2011/02/20
2011/02/21
2011/02/22
2011/02/23
2011/02/24
2011/02/25
2011/02/26
2011/02/27
2011/02/28
2011/03/01
2011/03/02
2011/03/03
2011/03/04
2011/03/05
2011/03/06
2011/03/07
2011/03/08
2011/03/09
2011/03/10
2011/03/11
2011/03/13
2011/03/14
2011/03/15
2011/03/16
2011/03/17
2011/03/18
2011/03/19
2011/03/20
2011/03/21
2011/03/22
2011/03/23
2011/03/24
2011/03/25
2011/03/26
2011/03/27
2011/03/28
2011/03/29
2011/03/30
2011/03/31
2011/04/01
2011/04/02
2011/04/03
2011/04/04
2011/04/05
2011/04/06
2011/04/07
2011/04/08
2011/04/09
2011/04/10
2011/04/11
2011/04/12
2011/04/13
2011/04/14
2011/04/15
2011/04/16
2011/04/17
2011/04/18
2011/04/19
2011/04/20
2011/04/21
2011/04/22
2011/04/23
2011/04/24
2011/04/25
2011/04/26
2011/04/27
2011/04/28
2011/04/29
2011/04/30
2011/05/01
2011/05/02
2011/05/03
2011/05/04
2011/05/05
2011/05/06
2011/05/07
2011/05/08
2011/05/09
2011/05/10
2011/05/11
2011/05/12
2011/05/13
2011/05/14
2011/05/15
2011/05/16
2011/05/17
2011/05/18
2011/05/19
Browse by creation date
Browse by origin
Embassy Athens
Embassy Asuncion
Embassy Astana
Embassy Asmara
Embassy Ashgabat
Embassy Apia
Embassy Ankara
Embassy Amman
Embassy Algiers
Embassy Addis Ababa
Embassy Accra
Embassy Abuja
Embassy Abu Dhabi
Embassy Abidjan
Consulate Auckland
Consulate Amsterdam
Consulate Adana
American Institute Taiwan, Taipei
Embassy Bujumbura
Embassy Buenos Aires
Embassy Budapest
Embassy Bucharest
Embassy Brussels
Embassy Bridgetown
Embassy Bratislava
Embassy Brasilia
Embassy Bogota
Embassy Bishkek
Embassy Bern
Embassy Berlin
Embassy Belmopan
Embassy Belgrade
Embassy Beirut
Embassy Beijing
Embassy Banjul
Embassy Bangkok
Embassy Bandar Seri Begawan
Embassy Bamako
Embassy Baku
Embassy Baghdad
Consulate Barcelona
Embassy Copenhagen
Embassy Conakry
Embassy Colombo
Embassy Chisinau
Embassy Caracas
Embassy Canberra
Embassy Cairo
Consulate Curacao
Consulate Ciudad Juarez
Consulate Chennai
Consulate Casablanca
Consulate Cape Town
Consulate Calgary
Embassy Dushanbe
Embassy Dublin
Embassy Doha
Embassy Djibouti
Embassy Dili
Embassy Dhaka
Embassy Dar Es Salaam
Embassy Damascus
Embassy Dakar
Consulate Dubai
Embassy Helsinki
Embassy Harare
Embassy Hanoi
Consulate Ho Chi Minh City
Consulate Hermosillo
Consulate Hamilton
Consulate Hamburg
Consulate Halifax
Embassy Kyiv
Embassy Kuwait
Embassy Kuala Lumpur
Embassy Kinshasa
Embassy Kingston
Embassy Kigali
Embassy Khartoum
Embassy Kathmandu
Embassy Kampala
Embassy Kabul
Consulate Kolkata
Embassy Luxembourg
Embassy Luanda
Embassy London
Embassy Ljubljana
Embassy Lisbon
Embassy Lima
Embassy Lilongwe
Embassy La Paz
Consulate Lahore
Consulate Lagos
Mission USOSCE
Mission USNATO
Mission UNESCO
Embassy Muscat
Embassy Moscow
Embassy Montevideo
Embassy Monrovia
Embassy Minsk
Embassy Mexico
Embassy Mbabane
Embassy Maputo
Embassy Manila
Embassy Manama
Embassy Managua
Embassy Malabo
Embassy Madrid
Consulate Munich
Consulate Mumbai
Consulate Montreal
Consulate Monterrey
Consulate Milan
Consulate Melbourne
Embassy Nicosia
Embassy Niamey
Embassy New Delhi
Embassy Ndjamena
Embassy Nassau
Embassy Nairobi
Consulate Naples
Consulate Naha
Embassy Pristina
Embassy Pretoria
Embassy Prague
Embassy Port Of Spain
Embassy Port Louis
Embassy Port Au Prince
Embassy Phnom Penh
Embassy Paris
Embassy Paramaribo
Embassy Panama
Consulate Peshawar
REO Basrah
Embassy Rome
Embassy Riyadh
Embassy Riga
Embassy Reykjavik
Embassy Rangoon
Embassy Rabat
Consulate Rio De Janeiro
Consulate Recife
Secretary of State
Embassy Suva
Embassy Stockholm
Embassy Sofia
Embassy Skopje
Embassy Singapore
Embassy Seoul
Embassy Sarajevo
Embassy Santo Domingo
Embassy Santiago
Embassy Sanaa
Embassy San Salvador
Embassy San Jose
Consulate Strasbourg
Consulate St Petersburg
Consulate Shenyang
Consulate Shanghai
Consulate Sapporo
Consulate Sao Paulo
Embassy Tunis
Embassy Tripoli
Embassy Tokyo
Embassy The Hague
Embassy Tel Aviv
Embassy Tehran
Embassy Tegucigalpa
Embassy Tbilisi
Embassy Tashkent
Embassy Tallinn
Consulate Toronto
Consulate Tijuana
USUN New York
USEU Brussels
US Office Almaty
US Mission Geneva
US Interests Section Havana
US Delegation, Secretary
UNVIE
Embassy Ulaanbaatar
Embassy Vilnius
Embassy Vienna
Embassy Vatican
Embassy Valletta
Consulate Vladivostok
Consulate Vancouver
Browse by tag
AF
ASEC
AR
AEMR
AMGT
AE
AU
AID
AORC
APER
AS
AM
AFIN
AMED
AJ
AGR
ACOA
ANET
ASIG
ABLD
AL
AA
APECO
AGAO
AY
AGMT
APEC
AINF
AG
ACS
AECL
AFFAIRS
ABUD
ASUP
ADANA
AADP
AMCHAMS
ARF
ASEAN
ADPM
ATRN
ALOW
APCS
ADCO
ACAO
AORG
AROC
AO
AODE
ACABQ
AX
AMEX
AFGHANISTAN
AZ
AND
ARM
AQ
ATFN
AMBASSADOR
ACBAQ
AFSI
AFSN
AC
AUC
ASEX
AER
AVERY
AGRICULTURE
ASCH
AFU
AMG
ATPDEA
ASECKFRDCVISKIRFPHUMSMIGEG
AORL
ADM
AN
AIT
BU
BR
BL
BO
BA
BB
BG
BM
BBSR
BH
BEXP
BK
BD
BTIO
BT
BE
BY
BF
BX
BP
BRUSSELS
BILAT
BIDEN
BC
BMGT
BWC
BN
BTIU
CH
CG
CF
CU
CE
CVIS
CASC
CO
CS
CA
CIDA
CBW
CW
CMGT
CI
CODEL
CY
CPAS
CJAN
CD
CWC
CDG
CIA
CL
CROS
CAPC
CTR
CT
CR
CBSA
CEUDA
COM
CFED
CV
CACS
CARSON
CLINTON
CN
CONS
CM
CAC
CIC
COPUOS
CDC
CONDOLEEZZA
CICTE
COUNTER
COUNTRY
CBE
CKGR
CHR
CVR
COUNTERTERRORISM
CITEL
CLEARANCE
COE
CARICOM
CB
CSW
CITT
CACM
CDB
CJUS
CTM
CAN
CLMT
CBC
CNARC
CIS
EG
EZ
EUN
ECON
ETRD
ECPS
EFIN
ENRG
ETTC
EPET
EINV
EAID
EAIR
EWWT
EU
EAGR
EC
ELAB
EIND
EN
EMIN
ESENV
ENNP
EFIS
ELTN
ET
ECIN
EFTA
ES
EINT
EI
ENGR
ETRDEINVECINPGOVCS
ENVI
ETRDECONWTOCS
ECINECONCS
ELN
ELECTIONS
ENVR
EXTERNAL
EXIM
ETRO
ENIV
ESA
ER
EK
EUR
EFINECONCS
EUMEM
EUREM
EPA
ERNG
ENERG
ECA
ETRC
EINVEFIN
ETC
EAP
ECONOMY
EINN
ECONOMIC
EXBS
ECUN
ENGY
ECONOMICS
EIAR
EINDETRD
ECONEFIN
EURN
EDU
ETRDEINVTINTCS
ECIP
EFIM
EAIDS
EREL
EINVETC
ECONCS
ETRA
EAIG
EUC
ERD
ETRN
EINVECONSENVCSJA
EEPET
EUNCH
IS
IZ
IR
IC
IO
IN
ID
IGAD
IT
ILC
IAEA
ITU
ICAO
IMO
IBRD
IMF
ICJ
IAHRC
ITF
INRA
INRO
IWC
IQ
IV
ICRC
ICTY
INRB
IEFIN
ILO
ITRA
ITALY
IBET
ISRAELI
IL
INTELSAT
IRC
IDP
ICTR
IRAQI
IPR
IIP
INMARSAT
ITPGOV
ITALIAN
INTERNAL
IRS
IA
INTERPOL
IEA
INR
IZPREL
IRAJ
IF
ITPHUM
ISRAEL
IACI
INDO
IDA
ISLAMISTS
KSPR
KNNP
KWBG
KAWK
KISL
KPAO
KN
KS
KIPR
KCRM
KDEM
KIRF
KJUS
KHLS
KSCA
KOMC
KAWC
KV
KFRD
KWMN
KTIP
KPWR
KSUM
KGHG
KTIA
KTFN
KIRC
KCOR
KACT
KMDR
KGIC
KOLY
KUNR
KIDE
KMPI
KPKO
KCFE
KVPR
KRAD
KPAL
KFRDCVISCMGTCASCKOCIASECPHUMSMIGEG
KTEX
KTDB
KFSC
KZ
KSEP
KFLU
KE
KU
KPLS
KRVC
KRIM
KSTH
KG
KFLO
KPOA
KICC
KDDG
KPRV
KTBT
KBCT
KSAF
KMOC
KDRG
KBIO
KREC
KSTC
KVRP
KBTR
KMIG
KENV
KNSD
KCGC
KWAC
KFRDKIRFCVISCMGTKOCIASECPHUMSMIGEG
KWMM
KPRP
KNEI
KPAI
KO
KVIR
KX
KMCA
KCRS
KMFO
KID
KCIP
KNAR
KR
KCRCM
KBTS
KSEO
KHDP
KFIN
KOCI
KGIT
KNUP
KPAONZ
KNUC
KNNPMNUC
KERG
KSCI
KTLA
KHIV
KCSY
KTRD
KMRS
KNPP
KJUST
KCMR
KTER
KRCM
KCFC
KSAC
KCHG
KREL
KFTFN
KCOM
KLIG
KDEMAF
KAID
KGCC
KICA
KHUM
KSEC
KPIN
KESS
KDEV
KWWMN
KOM
KWNM
KRFD
KRGY
KIFR
KWMNCS
KPAK
KOMS
KHSA
MPOS
MOPS
MARR
MTCR
MNUC
MASS
MX
MCAP
MAR
MTRE
MASC
MK
MG
MTCRE
MI
MD
MA
MO
MY
MU
ML
MRCRE
MAS
MEDIA
MC
MR
MIL
MW
MARAD
MAPP
MZ
MP
MOPPS
MTS
MLS
MILI
MEPN
MEPI
MEETINGS
MERCOSUR
MT
MCC
MIK
MAPS
MV
MILITARY
MDC
MEPP
MASSMNUC
MUCN
MQADHAFI
NATO
NG
NL
NZ
NT
NW
NO
NU
NS
NPT
NASA
NI
NK
NSG
NE
NORAD
NAFTA
NP
NATIONAL
NSSP
NSF
NA
NGO
NV
NR
NDP
NIPP
NZUS
NH
NC
NEW
NRR
NAR
NATOPREL
NPG
NSC
NPA
NSFO
OPDC
OPRC
OEXC
OTRA
ODIP
OIIP
OVIP
OPIC
OPCW
OAS
OREP
OSCE
OSCI
OES
OFDP
OECD
OCS
OIC
OPAD
OVP
OHUM
OFFICIALS
OIE
OTR
OMIG
OSAC
OBSP
OFDA
ON
OCII
PREL
PGOV
PARM
PINR
PTER
PHUM
PK
PREF
PM
PHSA
PA
PINS
PE
PBTS
PCI
PO
PL
POGOV
PAK
PEL
PGIV
PROP
PP
PBIO
POL
POLITICS
POLICY
PINL
PBT
PMIL
POV
PTBS
PG
POSTS
PALESTINIAN
PROV
PNAT
PINF
PRL
PAS
PDOV
PRAM
PREO
PAHO
PHUMPGOV
PAO
PREFA
PSI
POLITICAL
PAIGH
PARMS
PROG
PTERE
PRGOV
PORG
PS
PGOF
PKFK
PSOE
PEPR
PPA
PINT
PMAR
PRELP
PNG
PFOR
PUNE
PGOVLO
PHUMBA
PSEPC
PNR
POLINT
PGOVE
PHALANAGE
PARTY
PDEM
PECON
PGOC
PY
PLN
PHUH
PF
PHUS
PU
PARTIES
PCUL
PGGV
PSA
PGOVSMIGKCRMKWMNPHUMCVISKFRDCA
PHUMPREL
RS
RU
RW
REACTION
RCMP
RSO
RO
RP
ROOD
RM
ROBERT
RICE
REGION
RSP
RF
RIGHTS
RIGHTSPOLMIL
RUPREL
RELATIONS
RFE
REPORT
SY
SP
SOCI
SMIG
SNAR
SCUL
SC
SU
SO
SI
SENV
SZ
SW
SA
SR
SF
SEVN
SN
STEINBERG
SEN
SG
SYR
SWE
SK
SH
SNARCS
SAARC
SNARIZ
SPCE
SARS
SNARN
SCRS
SYRIA
SL
SENVKGHG
SAN
ST
SIPDIS
SSA
SPCVIS
SOFA
SANC
SHI
SHUM
SIPRS
TSPA
TSPL
TU
TBIO
TRGY
TPHY
TS
TP
TW
TBID
TI
TF
TZ
TD
TT
TN
TNGD
TC
TX
TH
TL
TIP
THPY
TV
TK
TERRORISM
TO
TRSY
TURKEY
TINT
TFIN
TAGS
TR
US
UNSC
UNGA
UK
UP
UNCHC
UN
UNMIK
UNCSD
UY
USTR
USOAS
UNHRC
UNFCYP
UG
UNAUS
UNESCO
UNIDROIT
UNO
UV
UNHCR
USUN
UZ
USNC
UNCHR
UNCND
UNEP
USEU
USPS
USAID
UE
UNVIE
UAE
UNDP
UNODC
UNCHS
UNFICYP
UNDESCO
UNC
UNPUOS
UNDC
UNICEF
Browse by classification
Community resources
courage is contagious
Viewing cable 06BRASILIA2003, Bahia PFL Leaders Combative and Pessimistic
If you are new to these pages, please read an introduction on the structure of a cable as well as how to discuss them with others. See also the FAQs
Understanding cables
Every cable message consists of three parts:
- The top box shows each cables unique reference number, when and by whom it originally was sent, and what its initial classification was.
- The middle box contains the header information that is associated with the cable. It includes information about the receiver(s) as well as a general subject.
- The bottom box presents the body of the cable. The opening can contain a more specific subject, references to other cables (browse by origin to find them) or additional comment. This is followed by the main contents of the cable: a summary, a collection of specific topics and a comment section.
Discussing cables
If you find meaningful or important information in a cable, please link directly to its unique reference number. Linking to a specific paragraph in the body of a cable is also possible by copying the appropriate link (to be found at theparagraph symbol). Please mark messages for social networking services like Twitter with the hash tags #cablegate and a hash containing the reference ID e.g. #06BRASILIA2003.
Reference ID | Created | Released | Classification | Origin |
---|---|---|---|---|
06BRASILIA2003 | 2006-09-21 10:11 | 2011-03-05 00:00 | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | Embassy Brasilia |
VZCZCXRO5727
RR RUEHRG
DE RUEHBR #2003/01 2641011
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 211011Z SEP 06
FM AMEMBASSY BRASILIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6731
INFO RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEHRG/AMCONSUL RECIFE 5497
RUEHSO/AMCONSUL SAO PAULO 8111
RUEHRI/AMCONSUL RIO DE JANEIRO 2929
RUEHBU/AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES 4291
RUEHMN/AMEMBASSY MONTEVIDEO 6486
RUEHAC/AMEMBASSY ASUNCION 5681
RUEHSG/AMEMBASSY SANTIAGO 5798
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BRASILIA 002003
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL ECON BR
SUBJECT: Bahia PFL Leaders Combative and Pessimistic
REFS: A. Brasilia 1961, B. Brasilia 1996
¶1. (SBU) Summary. Senator Antonio Carlos Magalhaes (ACM)(protect), opposition PFL (Party of the Liberal Front) from Bahia, said Lula will try but fail to form a government of reconciliation if he is re-elected on October 1, and Federal Deputy Jose Carlos Aleluia (protect), PFL from Bahia, says Brazilian voters have been brought to Lula's side by excessive public spending but the country is heading for a moral and political "precipice." During a September 12 meeting with Poloff, ACM sounded determined to work toward preventing Lula from forming a government that would include current members of the opposition, and said the opposition in congress might even attempt to impeach Lula. In a separate meeting, Aleluia made clear to Poloff his frustration that voters seem ready to re-elect President Lula despite what Aleluia views as Lula's first term record of gross abuses of authority, a poor economic policy, and widespread corruption. End Summary.
--------------------------------------------- - Excessive Public Spending Means Votes for Lula --------------------------------------------- -
¶2. (SBU) Embassy Poloff met on September 12 over breakfast with Jose Carlos Aleluia (PFL) from Bahia at Aleluia's home. Aleluia said two of the biggest problems with Lula's administration are runaway public spending and low public investment. He complained that Lula has used the powers of the presidency to "buy" the courts, the universities, the Federal Police, and the Public Ministry. He said the public payroll has ballooned under Lula. Lula has "bought" universities by creating new ones, he said, and he named several states where new public universities had been created, encumbering the government with lifetime academic appointees and pensions for their spouses. In Minas Gerais, for example, four new public universities had been created during Lula's first term, according to Aleluia. Further, Aleluia accused Lula of manipulating the Federal Police so that the many of the corruption cases it discovered recently are claimed to have existed all along but were previously undetected.
¶3. (SBU) Aleluia said Lula had appointed so many judges to the Supreme Court that if the Court ever had to make a decision concerning the coming election, it would decide in Lula's favor. He also criticized the hiring of a large of number of public employees through job competitions. "Brazil has become the country of job competitions," he complained. As an example, he said the government had created many entry level judgeships with excessive salaries. He said the young judges earn 18,000 reais (about USD 8400) a month, which is a very high salary in Brazil.
¶4. (SBU) Aleluia said the bloated federal payroll, combined with the Bolsa Familia assistance program for poor families, make Lula practically unbeatable on October 1, although he added that if the election goes to second round Lula would be vulnerable and could lose to Geraldo Alckmin of the Party of Brazilian Social Democracy (PSDB), with which the PFL is currently allied in opposition to Lula. Alleging a political manipulation of Lula's flagship social welfare program, the Bolsa Familia (Family Allowance), Aleluia noted that when Lula took power, the program provided benefits to five million families. Lula added three million more, and recently added three million more, bringing the total to about 11 million families. (Note: according to Brazilian government statistics, in May 2006 there were 9.2 million families in the Bolsa Familia program, and in June 2006 the figure jumped to 11.1 million, which is current figure.) Aleluia also said the Bolsa Familia program has induced some families to quit working, creating a new dependency on the federal government, although he stopped short of saying he was opposed to the Bolsa and other assistance programs, some of which Lula inherited from the Fernando Henrique Cardoso administration.
¶5. (SBU) Aleluia also criticized the Lula government for a lack of public investment, but did not get into specifics, aside from noting that the government had failed to build new roads. He also complained of high interest rates, a low economic growth rate, and an unfavorable foreign exchange rate for the Brazilian real. The foreign exchange rate is hurting all exporters, especially agricultural interests in the south, he added. He acknowledged that the trade balance is good, but said it could be better.
¶6. (SBU) Even though in the northeast Lula may win the votes of eighty percent of the poor, Aleluia said, about ten percent of those votes will be lost because the least sophisticated voters will have trouble with the electronic voting machine. He explained that not only do voters have to confront the electronic voting machine, they
BRASILIA 00002003 002 OF 002
have to know their candidates' numbers and enter each one manually, as opposed to selecting from a list. Finally, he said, the voting order places the presidential vote at the end, and some voters will give up before getting to that point.
¶7. (SBU) Finally, Aleluia opined that Brazilians are generally happy with their country and their lives, but the country is heading toward a moral and political precipice. He said the choice is between taking Brazil in the direction of Bolivia or Chile. He is convinced that Lula's re-election will take Brazil toward the Bolivian model.
--------------------------------------------- - Lula Will Fail to Bring Opposition to His Camp --------------------------------------------- -
¶8. (SBU) Embassy Poloff, accompanied by the Salvador Consular Agent, met with Antonio Carlos Magalhaes at his Salvador office on September 12. ACM began by saying that Lula would try but fail to form a government of reconciliation if he is re-elected on October 1. ACM said he expected Lula to appoint two or three persons as ministers who are not identified as political or partisan figures. He said they might be figures similar to former and current Justice Ministers Nelson Jobim and Marcio Thomaz Bastos. He predicted a majority of the Senate will be in opposition, including at least two to three PMDB senators, such as Jarbas Vasconcelos of Pernambuco. Asked who the other PMDB opposition Senators might be, ACM said that is not yet known. ACM predicted that after October 1, when a new threshold law will eliminate parties failing to reach a certain minimum of votes nationally, only about six parties will remain standing. He also commented in passing that the PFL is perceived as being on the right, but is really a centrist party, and that the PSDB is perceived as being center-left but is also a centrist party.
¶9. (SBU) When asked whether the PSDB and PT might unite in the future out of ideological similarity, ACM dismissed this possibility out of hand. He said this would not happen for two reasons: they are competitors, and Fernando Henrique Cardoso will not allow it.
-------------------------------------------- Need to be Tougher on Lula, Even Impeach Him --------------------------------------------
¶10. (SBU) On corruption in the Lula government, ACM said without hesitation that Lula knew everything. The opposition had missed an opportunity to impeach Lula in his first term, but might try again in the second, ACM declared. He said Lula has committed impeachable crimes and there is enough evidence to impeach. When asked to comment on Alckmin's new campaign emphasis on corruption, ACM said he had been telling Alckmin to be tougher on Lula on this issue. Alckmin was late to start attacking on corruption, said ACM, but it is having an effect. At the same time, ACM said the general public cares about corruption, but the poor think "Lula is their friend and all politicians steal." ACM also said Lula has not yet been directly implicated in a corruption scandal because the Ministerio Publico is subject to Lula's political control through the Minister, who owes allegiance to Lula. ACM continued to say that Lula has "bought lots of people," including NGOs, which he claimed were now "all corrupt." (Note: the conversation with ACM occurred before the most recent scandal breaking over Lula and the PT, per reftel B. End note.)
¶11. (SBU) Comment: Deputy Aleluia and Senator Magalhaes's pessimistic and combative attitudes toward the PT and President Lula are in line with predictions of difficult executive-legislative relations we have heard from at least one other politician (reftel) and some journalists in the Brazilian northeast. If ACM and Aleluia are typical of PFL attitudes, Lula will have a difficult time with the Senate in a prospective second term, where the opposition may hold a majority after October 1. In that case, political progress, in spite of Lula's best efforts, could be subject to some degree of gridlock. But ACM's influence over his colleagues is less than it was in the past. In 2001 he resigned from the Senate during a scandal in which he was accused of accessing information about secret Senate votes. By resigning, he retained his political SIPDIS rights, and was elected again in 2002 to a term ending in 2010. ACM, who is now 79 years old, expresses sentiments held many among in the anti-Lula block, but to the point where even some who sympathize believe he has crossed a line and insults the presidency, not the President. Whether others will join his openly hostile camp remains to be seen. End comment.
Chicola