Newsgroup: it.politica.internazionale
Titolo: Viva Lula!

Un presidente fa l'"impossibile":
Rinuncia ad aquistare armamenti, addirittura a un "impegno", per
trasferire i soldi a beneficio dei poveri!
Ve li immaginate, Bush, Blair Berlusconi e Putin a fare una cosa del
genere?    In precedente governo, quello di "centrosinistra", ha
addirittura
rinunciato di costruire ospedali per completare in tempo sottomarini
richiesti dalla NATO.
Forza Lula!
---------------
BRAZIL'S PRESIDENT PICKS BUTTER OVER GUNS
HTTP://WWW.NYTIMES.COM/2003/01/04/INTERNATIONAL/AMERICAS/04BRAZ.HTML
BY LARRY ROHTER
BRAS&#1053;LIA, JAN. 3 &#8212; BRAZIL'S NEW LEFTIST GOVERNMENT TODAY
SUSPENDED
A $760 MILLION PURCHASE OF A DOZEN NEW JET FIGHTER PLANES FOR ITS AIR
FORCE, SAYING THE MONEY COULD BE BETTER USED TO RELIEVE HUNGER.
THE ANNOUNCEMENT WAS MADE AFTER PRESIDENT LUIZ IN&#1073;CIO LULA DA
SILVA, A
FORMER FACTORY WORKER AND LABOR UNION LEADER WHO TOOK OFFICE ON
WEDNESDAY, MET OFFICIALLY WITH HIS CABINET FOR THE FIRST TIME.
DEFENSE MINISTER JOS&#1081; VIEGAS SAID THAT THE PLANE PURCHASE, ONE
OF THE
BIGGEST MILITARY EXPENDITURES IN LATIN AMERICA IN THE LAST
QUARTER-CENTURY, WOULD BE POSTPONED AT LEAST A YEAR AND THAT HE HAD
BEGUN
LOOKING FOR CHEAPER ALTERNATIVES, LIKE RENTING, OR BUYING USED
AIRCRAFT.
 
MR. DA SILVA'S DECISION "REFLECTS THE URGENCY OF THIS COUNTRY FOCUSING
ITS EFFORTS ON THE QUESTION OF HUNGER" AND SHOULD NOT BE SEEN AS A
REJECTION OF THE MILITARY, THE NEW PRESIDENT'S SPOKESMAN, ANDR&#1081;
SINGER,
SAID.
MR. DA SILVA IS UNWILLING TO "CREATE A NEW HOLE" IN THE BUDGET NOW,
MR.
SINGER ADDED, BUT "THE ENTIRE EQUIPMENT REFURBISHMENT PROJECT REMAINS
ON
THE CARDS" FOR THE FUTURE.
THE MILITARY DID NOT DISSENT &#8212; AT LEAST PUBLICLY &#8212; WITH A
PRESIDENT WHO HAD JUST TAKEN OFFICE. DURING THE RIGHT-WING MILITARY
DICTATORSHIP THAT RULED BRAZIL FROM 1964 TO 1985, MR. DA SILVA, THEN A
LEADER OF THE METALWORKERS UNION, WAS ORDERED JAILED BY OFFICERS WHO
CONSIDERED HIM A DANGEROUS RADICAL. BUT HE AND OTHER LEADERS OF HIS
WORKERS' PARTY HAVE CULTIVATED TIES WITH THE MILITARY IN RECENT YEARS,
EVEN AS THEIR PARTY HAS MODERATED ITS PLATFORM.
 
THE NEWLY APPOINTED COMMANDER OF THE AIR FORCE, GEN. LUIZ CARLOS
BUENO,
SAID MR. DA SILVA'S DECISION TO POSTPONE THE PURCHASE OF THE AIRCRAFT
HAD
BEEN ACCEPTED WITHOUT COMPLAINT BY THE ARMED FORCES HIERARCHY. "WE ARE
WORKING WITH THE GOVERNMENT, NOT AGAINST IT," HE TOLD REPORTERS.
IN HIS INAUGURAL ADDRESS ON WEDNESDAY, MR. DA SILVA SAID ELIMINATING
HUNGER WOULD BE HIS ADMINISTRATION'S TOP PRIORITY. EVEN BEFORE TAKING
OFFICE, HE ANNOUNCED THE CREATION OF A PROGRAM CALLED ZERO HUNGER TO
ATTACK A SOCIAL PROBLEM THAT AFFECTS AT LEAST 25 MILLION OF THE
COUNTRY'S
175 MILLION PEOPLE, MAINLY CHILDREN AND BLACK PEOPLE IN RURAL AREAS.
"SO LONG AS THERE IS A SINGLE BRAZILIAN BROTHER OR SISTER GOING
HUNGRY,
WE HAVE AMPLE REASON TO BE ASHAMED OF OURSELVES," HE SAID IN THE
SPEECH.
"IF AT THE END OF MY TERM OF OFFICE EVERY BRAZILIAN HAS THE
OPPORTUNITY
TO EAT BREAKFAST, LUNCH AND DINNER, THEN I WILL HAVE COMPLETED MY
MISSION
IN LIFE."
 
MR. DA SILVA'S EMPHASIS ON ASSURING "FOOD SECURITY," TO USE THE TERM
GIVEN TO A NEW GOVERNMENT MINISTRY, IS IN PART THE RESULT OF HIS OWN
EXPERIENCE. HE WAS BORN INTO A LARGE PEASANT FAMILY IN A POOR RURAL
AREA
AND AS A CHILD SOMETIMES WENT HUNGRY HIMSELF.
FIVE FOREIGN COMPANIES HAVE BEEN COMPETING TO WIN THE COVETED FIGHTER
PLANE CONTRACT, AMONG THEM LOCKHEED-MARTIN, MAKER OF THE F-16. TWO
RUSSIAN COMPANIES, THE MAKERS OF MIG AND SUKHOI AIRCRAFT, HAVE ALSO
PROFFERED BIDS, BUT THE FRONT-RUNNER WAS THOUGHT TO BE A
FRENCH-BRAZILIAN
JOINT VENTURE THAT PLANS TO BUILD MIRAGE JET FIGHTERS IN S&#1075;O
PAULO STATE.
THE BRAZILIAN PARTNER IN THAT CONSORTIUM, KNOWN AS EMBRAER, WAS
FOUNDED
BY THE BRAZILIAN AIR FORCE BUT IS NOW CORPORATELY OWNED AND HAS BECOME
THE WORLD'S FOURTH-LARGEST AIRCRAFT MANUFACTURER.
AFTER THE GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCEMENT, THE VALUE OF EMBRAER'S STOCK
DROPPED
BY MORE THAN 2 PERCENT ON THE S&#1075;O PAULO EXCHANGE, ON A DAY WHEN
THE
MARKET WAS RISING.
DURING A MEETING ON THURSDAY WITH PRIME MINISTER GORAN PERSSON OF
SWEDEN,
MR. DA SILVA DROPPED HIS FIRST HINT THAT HE MIGHT SUSPEND THE PLANE
PURCHASE. MR. PERSSON HAD COME HERE FOR THE INAUGURATION AND,
BRAZILIAN
GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS SAID, LOBBIED MR. DA SILVA ON BEHALF OF SAAB,
WHICH
IS A PARTNER WITH A BRITISH COMPANY IN ANOTHER CONSORTIUM BIDDING FOR
THE
CONTRACT.
AT PRESENT, THE BRAZILIAN AIR FORCE'S FLEET OF FIGHTER PLANES CONSISTS
MOSTLY OF MIRAGES THAT ARE NEARLY 30 YEARS OLD AND WERE SCHEDULED TO
BE
PHASED OUT BY 2005.
BIDDING TO REPLACE THEM BEGAN MORE THAN TWO YEARS AGO, WITH A DECISION
EXPECTED BY THE END OF 2002, BUT AFTER HIS HUGE VICTORY IN OCTOBER,
MR.
DA SILVA PERSUADED HIS PREDECESSOR, FERNANDO HENRIQUE CARDOSO, TO HOLD
OFF AWARDING THE CONTRACT.    
AIR FORCE OFFICERS HAD FREQUENTLY COMPLAINED THAT THEIR EQUIPMENT WAS
IN
POOR CONDITION AND THAT THEY WERE REDUCED TO CANNIBALIZING AIRCRAFT
FOR
SPARE PARTS. BECAUSE OF BUDGET CUTS, EVEN FLIGHT TIME FOR PILOTS HAS
BEEN
LIMITED, SO AIR FORCE OFFICERS WELCOMED THE MODERNIZATION EFFORT AS
LONG
OVERDUE.
THE POSTPONEMENT IS LIKELY TO PERTURB SOME OF BRAZIL'S NEIGHBORS, IN
PARTICULAR COLOMBIA, WHOSE ARMED FORCES ARE INVOLVED IN A LONGSTANDING
CONFLICT WITH LEFTIST GUERRILLA GROUPS THAT USE THE AMAZON BORDER WITH
BRAZIL AS A STAGING AND SUPPLY AREA.

Sai com'è, Bush, Blair e Berlusconi non hanno i problemi di miseria che ha
Chavez...

 Chavez...
Davvero?   Leggi l'articolo sotto.
Quando lo postai la prima volta, feci la "comunistissima" proposta di
usare i soldi da spendere per l'Iraq per sfamare questa gente.
Lula lo sta facendo. 
GT
-------------------------
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/2515147.stm
No holiday for US food banks
 By Janet Williams
BBC correspondent in Seattle
As the United States celebrates Thanksgiving - with traditional feasts
of
turkey and pumpkin pie - for some of the millions who live in poverty
the
cupboards are bare.
It's Saturday morning in Seattle, and it's been raining for hours -
yet,
even before the doors open, a line of people winds round the side of
the
building and out into the car park.
They are waiting to collect handouts at the North Helpline food bank
in an
affluent city in one of the world's wealthiest nations.
And some of them have experienced real hunger.
"We open the fridge, and here's nothing but a bottle of Ketchup," says
Josh Freeman, who's 19.
"We try to figure out what would go good with Ketchup!" he laughs,
somewhat grimly.
Pam Wilson, 36, has a similar story: "I've learned to eat a packet of
soup
a day, instead of the three or four meals I was eating before."
Hungry children
Statistics for the year 2000, compiled by the US Department of
Agriculture, show that 10.5% of all US households - 33 million people
-
suffered from "food insecurity."
That is, they couldn't afford to buy enough food to meet their basic
needs. Of those, more than eight million, including 2.7 million
children,
were classified as "hungry."
Washington State ranks second in the nation for hunger, behind
neighbouring Oregon. One reason is obvious - it has one of the highest
rates of unemployment, at 6.7 %.
Over the last six months, Rita Anderson, who runs the North Helpline
food
bank, has seen a 13% increase in the number of people needing help:
"We've had some donors, who were just wonderful, and then I found that
two
of them were stand in line - they're now clients.
"People are making choices between medicine and food, between heat and
food, between paying their rent and food. Those are choices that
people
shouldn't have to make."
But a surprising number of food bank clients do have jobs.
Josh Freeman, he of the Ketchup, works full time as a warehouse
manager.
Just behind him in the food line stood Heidi - who didn't want to give
her
surname - who works full-time providing child care.
Both jobs pay about the minimum wage, $7 an hour.
And in Seattle, where the cost of living is sky-high, that's not
enough to
make ends meet.
Minimum wage
Says Heidi: "I've got to pay the rent, the lights, the car, and then
food
for the kids, as much as possible. Sometimes I have just $5 to my name
to
last two weeks."
During the 1990s, Washington State prospered. Thousands of people
moved
here, attracted by jobs at Boeing and the high-tech industries.
With so many people arriving, the real estate market boomed.
But not everyone benefited, as Linda Nageotte, the President of Food
Lifeline - a major distributor of food aid in Seattle - explains:
"The folks who were at the top of the economic spectrum did really
well.
But those at the bottom end actually lost ground.
"These were folks who were working full time jobs, at rates higher
than
minimum-wage and they saw, over a five year period, their rents
increase
by 65%.
"But their wage increases certainly did not keep pace with that."
So, some of the causes of hunger are obvious. People can't afford to
buy
food, either because they don't have a job, or because the job they do
have doesn't pay enough to cover the bills.
However, it's more complicated than that.
Between them, the federal government and non-profit organisations -
such
as Food Lifeline and North Helpline - provide enough financial and
material benefits to ensure no-one should go hungry.
But not everyone can get to a food bank. The poorest families don't
have
cars, and in rural areas, the nearest food bank can be some distance
away.
The federal government offers food stamps and other benefits. But many
fail to claim them because of language barriers, complex paperwork and
the
social stigma.
Thousands don't even realise they're eligible for help.
Obviously, hunger in the US is not on the same level as, for example,
sub-Saharan Africa. It's more a low-level, debilitating malnutrition.
It makes children ill, and reduces their ability to concentrate in
school.
And as education is the key to a better job, and a better salary, this
simply perpetuates an endless cycle of poverty.
As Linda Nageotte concludes: "People in the US cannot get past their
disbelief, to begin to do something about hunger. Hunger's invisible
in
this country.
"It doesn't show up in the same way as it does in Third World
countries,
and if it doesn't show up, it's real easy to believe it doesn't
exist."

 Lula lo sta facendo.
Se lo dici tu...
-Stefano