Social and political challenges of Brazil

Cairo.- A Brazilian expert talked last Tuesday about the social and political challenges ahead of Brazil after the reelection of Dilma Roussef. The main one is the economical situation. Brazil is on the verge of a recession after the trade surpluses enjoyed in the last decade came to an end because of the global slump in economic growth. In addition, the inflation has spiked, starting to damage especially the poorest citizens.

That will force the government to tighten its belt and downscale some of the Governmental programs supported by its electoral base. In any case, he does not think that social programs will be cancelled. Not by this government, not by any other government. They are too popular.

This situation will make it harder to build a government coalition in Parliament. The Labour Party (PT in Portuguese), Dilma’s party, has only a small minority of seats in the National Assembly, so it has to ally with several other parties. The rein in government spending may push some of these parties to the opposition during the coming years.

In terms of foreign policy, the Brazilian expert disagrees with the idea that it has become “ideologized” during Dilma’s and Lula’s mandates. The policy towards some leftists governments in Latin America stems from Brazil’s economic and political interests in the region. For example, Brazil has engaged with the government and the opposition in Venezuela in order to help them to reach a negotiated solution to the political challenges faced by the country.

In general, Brazil’s foreign policy follows two principles: support for dialogue as a means to resolve conflicts, non-interference in internal affairs, and support to democratically elected governments. This philosophy explains its positions towards Syria, where it has rejected foreign military intervention and calls for a broad national reconciliation process. Also, after the removal of former Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi, who was democratically elected, Brazil asked for dialogue and conciliation between those involved, under the rules of a democratic order.