Word: lula
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...Overall, 11.1 million families, or around 45 million people, are supported by the program, at a monthly average of around $30 per family. That's enough to ensure that everyone is fed - and also enough, experts say, to almost guarantee Lula's reelection...
When Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva took over as Brazil's president four years ago, millions of citizens celebrated by splashing around in fountains, dancing on rooftops and waving red flags in the streets. They passionately believed the unlettered former shoeshine boy would make Brazil a safer, fairer and happier place, and he promised them one thing. Minutes after donning the presidential sash, he vowed: "If at the end of my mandate every Brazilian has the opportunity to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner, I will have accomplished my life's mission...
...Today, at the end of a four-year term that will be remembered as much for corruption and cynicism as for economic stability or attempts to right the country's myriad social wrongs, those voters are no longer celebrating Lula. The optimism that marked his election has been replaced by unease, and the hope by resignation. Still, Lula is more popular than ever. His approval rating of 52% is the highest on record for a sitting president, and he is odds-on favorite to win a second four-year term when voters go to the polls...
...Lula's initial program to feed the poor was called Fome Zero, but after nine months of teething troubles and mismanagement it morphed into Bolsa Familia, a collection of programs centered around an existing scheme that paid mothers to ensure their kids stay in school. The Bolsa Familia gives households earning up to $56 a month per head a monthly allowance of between $7 and $43. Families earning up to $27 are entitled to $21 more depending on the number of children, pregnant females or young mothers. To qualify, kids between the ages of 6 and 15 must attend...
...Further waves of violence followed, amid accusations that police reprisals were responsible for many casualties. Not surprisingly, the mayhem has become a hot issue in elections scheduled for Oct. 1, when Brazilians vote for their President as well as state and other federal leaders. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, a veteran left-wing labor leader, looks set for a second term. Ferréz, a prominent local writer whose latest novel, In São Paulo Nobody Is Innocent, was published last month, treats the prospect with guarded pleasure at best. "Lula opened a dialogue with...