{{infobox company | company name	VIVACOM | company_logo 200px | company_type Joint Stock Company | company_slogan "Everything that connects you" | foundation 1992 | location Sofia, Bulgaria | key_people Bernard Moscheni, CEO| num_employees 9,370 | revenue €515.7 million (2006) | industry telecommunications | products fixed line telephony, Internet services, mobile telephony (as Vivatel)| homepage http://www.vivacom.bg }}

VIVACOM (), previously named ''Bulgarian Telecommunications company'' (BTC) is the largest telecommunications company in Bulgaria and a former state-owned monopoly. Founded as a joint stock company in the end of 1992 as part of the separation of Bulgaria's post and telecommunication services into separate companies, it serves a total of 2.6 million fixed phone lines and employs about 10,000 people.

In June 2004 65% of the Bulgarian Telecommunications Company were sold to Viva Ventures, owned by Advent International, for €280 million (about 380 million U.S. dollars). As part of the deal, BTC was provided a GSM operator license and launched Vivatel, Bulgaria's third GSM operator, in 2005. An UMTS license was additionally purchased in May 2005. In May 2007 the company was sold again. AIG purchased both the Bulgarian Telecommunications Company and the third Bulgarian mobile operator, Vivatel for total price of €1,661 billion.

Besides serving the vast majority of fixed telephone lines in the country, BTC is also the biggest Bulgarian ADSL Internet service provider with 100,000 customers.

Icelandic-led Novator acquired a 65% stake for an undisclosed sum. In 2007 the stake was sold for £855m (about 1.2 billion U.S. Dollars).

Satellite TV

The service is available beginning September 1, all over the country, with three basic packages with different program lineups.

VIVACOM TV Start will cost BGN 9.8 per month and includes 40 TV channels and 10 radio stations– in addition to the three main ones, the Bulgarian National TV (BNT), bTV and Nova Televizia, the package offers bTV Cinema, bTV Action, bTV Comedy, Fox Life, Diema, CNN, Euronews, DW, the sports channels Eurosport and RING.bg, Fiesta TV, Animal Planet, the musical channels MAD, City TV, T rock, Planeta Folk, Fen TV, Balkanika, the kids ones Е-KIDS and Super 7, among others.

The biggest package EXTRA includes over 70 channels for the price of BGN 17.80 per month.

The Vivacom digital TV can be ordered without long-term contracts, but one- and two-year ones offer discounts of 50% for the first three or six months.

The Vivacom digital TV further offers an Electronic Program Guide (EPG) for a week ahead and parent control tools.

Vivacom is adding digital TV to its already bundled services – stationary phone line, cell phone services, and internet.

Vivacom TV will air via the largest satellite operator Intelsat – a 15-year partner of the company. Vivacom plans to introduce in the very near future HD programs to its basic digital packages.

References

External links

Official website (in Bulgarian)

Official website (in English)

Category:Telecommunications companies of Bulgaria Category:American International Group

bg:Българска телекомуникационна компания sv:Bulgarian Telecommunications Company

Name	Chivas Regal
Type	Scotch whisky
Proof	80
Manufacturer	Chivas Brothers
Origin	Scotland
Introduced	1801
Related	Royal Salute whisky
Variants	12 Year Old, 18 Year Old, 25 year Old }}

Chivas Regal is a blended Scotch whisky produced by Chivas Brothers, owned by Pernod Ricard. According to the brand packaging, Chivas Brothers was first established in 1801 in Aberdeen, Scotland. The Chivas brand's home is Strathisla Distillery at Keith, Moray in Speyside, Scotland.

It is the market-leading Scotch whisky aged 12 years and above in Europe and Asia Pacific. Chivas Regal sales have grown by 61% between 2002 and 2008.

Chivas Regal family

Chivas Regal whiskies are blended in a distinctive house style of a mellow, honeyed flavour. Chivas Regal 12 Year Old: Blended from whiskies matured for at least 12 years. Taste: Round and creamy on the palate, a taste of honey and ripe apples, with vanilla, hazelnut and butterscotch notes. Chivas Regal 18 Year Old: Blended from whiskies matured for at least 18 years. Taste: Chocolate and orange notes, some citrus and spice on the nose and a full, fruity, citrusy and spicy palate, with sherry notes to finish. Chivas Regal 25 Year Old: Created using whiskies aged at least 25 years; available only in limited quantities with a retail price of c$300. Taste: The blend has tasting notes of apricot and peach.

History

The House of Schivas, a large mansion, was built at Schivas in Aberdeenshire in 1640. The name is derived from the Gaelic 'seamhas', meaning narrow place.

Chivas Brothers traces its roots to the opening of a grocery store at 13 King St, Aberdeen in 1801. The store sold luxury foodstuffs such as coffee, exotic spices, French brandies, and Caribbean rums to a wealthy clientele. In 1842, Chivas Brothers were retained to supply provisions to the royal family at Balmoral Castle upon Queen Victoria's first visit to Scotland.

In 1843, Chivas Brothers were granted a Royal Warrant to supply goods to Queen Victoria. Chivas Brothers was described in 1890 as 'undoubtedly the finest purveying business in the north of Scotland' by ''Scotland of Today'' magazine.

During the 1850s, James Chivas decided to respond to his affluent customers' demands for a smoother whisky, by beginning to blend whiskies to create a proprietary blend to Chivas Brothers. Their first blended Scotch whisky named 'Royal Glen Dee' was launched, followed in the 1860s by their second blended Scotch whisky, 'Royal Strathythan'.

In the early 1900s, Chivas Brothers decided to create their most aged blended Scotch whisky to export to the U.S, where the booming economy after the turn of the century was fueling demand for luxury goods. The whisky was named Chivas Regal.

Chivas Regal 25 Year Old was launched in 1909 as the original luxury Scotch, and became a leading brand in the U.S. Chivas Regal continued its success until Prohibition in the 1920s.

Chivas Regal was purchased by Seagrams in 1949, which provided a much wider distribution and marketing system.

Chivas Regal was re-launched as Chivas Regal 12 year old in the US following the disruption of both Prohibition and World War II. Chivas became a fashionable brand of the era, and became associated with Frank Sinatra and the rest of the Rat Pack. Chivas Regal was the Scotch whisky requested by Sinatra, along with other spirits brands backstage at performances, and Chivas sponsored Frank Sinatra's Diamond Jubilee Tour in 1990.

In 1950, the company Chivas Brothers was able to buy the Strathisla Distillery which produces the Strathisla Single Malt, which is used within the Chivas Regal blend.

The Chivas Regal range was expanded with the launch of higher aged whiskies, in 1997 with the launch of Chivas Regal 18 year old, and in 2007 with the launch of Chivas Regal 25.

Chivas Regal was acquired by Pernod Ricard in 2000 upon the breakup of Seagrams Group.

Strathisla distillery

The home of Chivas Regal and location of its visitor centre is located at the Strathisla distillery. The distillery was founded in 1786, and is the oldest working distillery in the Highlands of Scotland - Strathisla Distillery, located in Speyside.

The Strathisla distillery is owned by Chivas Brothers, and Strathisla Single Malt is one of the malt whiskies used within the Chivas Regal blend.

Strathisla Single Malts have a natural sweetness and help to define the taste of Chivas Regal.

Marketing

In 2009, Chivas Regal launched a new global advertising campaign, to run across all continents. 'Live with Chivalry' was created by the Euro RSCG advertising agency. The campaign features TV, press, and outdoor advertising.

Chivas Regal also sponsored The Black Eyed Peas', Robbie Williams', Beyoncé's, and Christina Aguilera's tours in Asia.

Chivas Regal is also featured during the closing of the TV series Boston Legal.

Critical Acclaim

Chivas Regal whiskies have performed well at international Spirit ratings competitions. Although it only received a bronze medal in the latest competition in which it was entered (2009), the Chivas Regal 18yr Gold Signature blended whiskey—perhaps Chivas' best-performing product—received double gold medals at the 2006 and 2008 San Francisco World Spirits Competitions. Chivas' 21-year whisky has generally garnered silver medals at the competition.

References

General references:

''"A Double Scotch"'' by F. Paul Pacult. ©2005 John Wiley & Sons ISBN 0-471-66271-2

''"Cool Brands: An insight into some of Britain's coolest brands"'' ©2006 Superbrands Ltd ISBN 1-905652-03-8 *History of Chivas Regal from Superbrands.com

''"Scotland of Today"'' Published May 3, 1890.

External links

Chivas Regal Official site

Strathisla Distillery, home of Chivas Regal

History of Chivas Regal from Superbrands.com

Whisky Distilleries

Strathisla Distillery

Pernod Ricard Parent Company Homepage

Chivas Brothers Packaging Upgrade Infomration

Category:Scottish blended whisky Category:Pernod Ricard brands Category:1801 introductions Category:British Royal Warrant holders Category:Foods named after people

de:Chivas Regal es:Chivas Regal fr:Chivas Regal ko:시바스 리갈 it:Chivas Regal he:שיבס ריגל no:Chivas Regal pl:Chivas Regal pt:Chivas Regal ro:Chivas Regal ru:Чивас Ригал fi:Chivas Regal yi:שיוואס ריגעל zh:皇家芝华士

name	José Alencar
order	25th Vice President of Brazil
term start	1 January 2003
term end	31 December 2010
president	Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
predecessor	Marco Maciel
successor	Michel Temer
office2	Minister of Defence of Brazil
term start2	8 November 2004
term end2	31 March 2006
president2	Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
predecessor2	José Viegas Filho
successor2	Waldir Pires
order3	Senator from Minas Gerais
term start3	1 February 1998
term end3	31 December 2002
birth date	October 17, 1931
birth place	Muriaé, Minas Gerais
death date	March 29, 2011
death place	São Paulo, São Paulo
spouse	Mariza Gomes (1957-2011, his death)
party	PRB
occupation	Businessman, politician
religion	Roman Catholicism
footnotes	}}

José Alencar Gomes da Silva (; 17 October 1931 – 29 March 2011), was a Brazilian businessman and politician, and the Vice President of Brazil from 2003 to 2010. In business since a young age, Alencar was a self-made multimillionaire, as the chief executive of Coteminas, after working as travelling salesman and in failed food wholesale start-ups. He turned his family's small clothes factory and retail store into a leading textile manufacturer in his country, producing goods for traditional brands in its portfolio, such as Artex, Santista and Calfat, and vying for dominance of the global market after a merger with South Carolina-based Springs Industries. In the 1990s, Alencar groomed his son to succeed him at the company, and opted to enter politics in his home state, Minas Gerais.

Alencar had a business-oriented political platform, advocating market liberalization and deregulation of production. His expensive political campaigns received hefty funds from Coteminas. After a failed run in 1994 for governor of Minas Gerais, he won the election for the Senate of Brazil, representing his home state, in 1998. In 2002, Alencar was invited by the left-wing Worker's Party to run for Vice President, on the same ticket as Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The alliance between the leftist union leader and Alencar, an experienced entrepreneur, proved successful. They won the presidential elections in 2002 and were re-elected in 2006. Over the years, Lula da Silva and Alencar developed a close and affectionate friendship. Diagnosed with cancer of the stomach and kidney in 1997, Alencar succumbed to the disease in 2011.

Alencar came to be revered among journalists and politicians for his spirited posture and friendly demeanor. He overcame his lack of formal education, arguing vehemently in favor of less taxes, especially indirect taxation over consumers, and a simpler tax system; lower interest rates and greater oversight of the banking industry; and social welfare and assistance programs. As Vice President, Alencar sometimes spoke out against his own government's orthodox policies, causing embarrassment for fellow administration members. His unwavering determination to live in the face of terminal cancer also marked public perception, during and after his time in office.

Personal life and early political career

Alencar was born into a family of small entrepreneurs from Muriaé, in the inland state of Minas Gerais on 17 October 1931. He was the eleventh son of Antônio Gomes da Silva and Dolores Peres Gomes da Silva. He started working while still a child, dropping out of primary school to help his father in the family business, and then worked with his brothers until he became a successful businessman on his own. In 1967, Alencar founded Coteminas, which would become one of Brazil's largest textile manufacturers. In 2002, he left the presidency of the company, by then a leading player with roughly 850 million reais in yearly net sales, to his son Josué Gomes da Silva, in order to run for Vice President of Brazil.

In July 2010, retired teacher Rosemary de Morais was recognized in court as the daughter of José Alencar. Alencar refused to undergo parental testing, but, according to Brazilian law 12.004/2009, this refusal is accepted as evidence of paternity. The legal case over Morais's parentage is still ongoing. Alencar had other children: one son, Josué, and two daughters, Maria da Graça and Patrícia.

Before being elected for the Senate in 1998, Alencar ran for governor of Minas Gerais in 1994. While in the Senate, José Alencar worked on several Commissions, including the Senatorial Commission for Economic and Social Matters. In 2002 he was tapped to be Lula's running mate, in an effort to assuage worries about the candidate's alleged anti-business bias. He was the honorary President of center-right Liberal Party, but left his party at the end of 2005 to associate himself with the new Brazilian Republican Party.

Vice Presidency

In office, Alencar stood alongside another successful businessman in the cabinet, Luiz Fernando Furlan, to channel the demands of Brazilian businessmen against the government. Thus, they came to voice discontent over bureaucracy, insufficient infrastructure and cautious monetary policy. His efforts led to the strengthening of Apex-Brasil, a pro-export agency seen as instrumental in the Brazilian economy's recent rise in exports.

Alencar was the most notable person in government to openly complain of the conservative monetary policies of the Brazilian Central Bank, under Henrique Meirelles, backed by ministers Antonio Palocci and Paulo Bernardo. He often criticized his own administration for failing to lower the Central Bank's base interest rates and demanded a reform of the country's tax system. In November 2004 he was sworn in as Defense Minister, following the resignation of José Viegas Filho. Lula turned to him to occupy a vacant position for which the President found no better-suited candidate. Alencar tried to resign on several occasions, claiming that a businessman would hardly be the best choice for running a nation's military forces. Nevertheless, President Lula convinced him to stay until March 2006, when Alencar did resign his ministerial post, in favor of anti-graft activist Waldir Pires.

Despite his disagreements with some policies of the Lula administration, Alencar was officially invited by Lula to once again be his running mate in the 2006 general elections. With Lula's re-election victory on 29 October, Alencar secured his position as Vice President for another term. Alencar then adopted a lower tone, while still espousing his traditional positions. He sought to run for the Senate in 2010, but was forced to give up due to the advanced stage of his cancer disease.

Disease and death

On a routine check-up, José Alencar was diagnosed with stomach and kidney cancer in 1997. After undergoing treatment for some length of time, he had his right kidney and two-thirds of his stomach surgically removed. Five years later, a malignant tumor in his prostate was removed. However, the disease continued to spread, and in 2006 doctors discovered a sarcoma in his abdomen. On 26 January 2009, a surgery extirpated eight tumors, along with compromised portions of his small and large intestine and the ureters.thumb|Alencar lying in state. From the left: his wife Mariza Gomes, his son Josué, Ex-President Lula da Silva and ex-First Lady Marisa Letícia He was treated for digestive hemorrhage in December 2010 with an urgent surgery, his last as Vice President; though doctors could not remove the tumors present in Alencar's abdomen, because of the number of surgeries to which he had been subjected – eighteen in all. Alencar received chemotherapy for many years. He was mostly attended at Hospital Sírio-Libanês, in São Paulo, and also received experimental treatment at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas.

Alencar died in March 2011, in the city of São Paulo, after 13 years battling recurrent malignant tumors. His death was met with expressions of grief and respect by members of different institutions and across the political spectrum – former President Lula said he knew "few men with José Alencar's goodness and spirit" and President Rousseff said it was an "honor" to have served alongside him. Brazil held a state funeral for José Alencar, and Vice President Michel Temer decreed seven days of official mourning. Alencar is remembered as an honest and independent politician who favored social welfare and economic freedom.

References

Category:1931 births Category:2011 deaths Category:Vice-Presidents of Brazil Category:Brazilian businesspeople Category:People from Minas Gerais Category:Brazilian Roman Catholics Category:People associated with Scouting Category:Members of the Senate of Brazil Category:Deaths from cancer Category:Brazilian Republican Party politicians

ca:José Alencar da:José Alencar de:José Alencar es:José Alencar fr:José Alencar Gomes da Silva ko:조제 알렝카르 id:José Alencar Gomes da Silva it:José Alencar no:José Alencar pl:José Alencar pt:José Alencar ro:José Alencar ru:Аленкар, Жозе sr:Жозе Аленкар uk:Жозе Аленкар yo:José Alencar zh:若澤·阿倫卡爾

name	Eike Batista
birth date	November 03, 1956
birth place	Governador Valadares, Brazil
occupation	CEO of EBX Group
networth	$30 billion (2011)
alma mater	Dropout, RWTH Aachen University
spouse	Luma de Oliveira (1991–2004)
children	Thor Batista (b. 1992)Olin Batista (b. 1996) }}

Eike Fuhrken Batista da Silva, more commonly Eike Batista (Governador Valadares, Minas Gerais, Brazil, November 3, 1956), is a Brazilian business baron. He is the son of Eliezer Batista da Silva, a longtime head of mining company Vale. He has founded companies in different business sectors, mainly in mining. , he is the eighth richest person in the world.

Biography

Born in Brazil, Batista spent most of his childhood in Europe. He lived in Germany from 1969 to 1980, and began studying engineering at Aachen University but dropped out of college without completing his degree. In 1980, he moved back to Brazil to begin a gold and trading company in the Amazon. Shortly after he joined Canadian mining firm TVX Gold, making and then losing a fortune, before finally selling his stake in the company for $1 billion in 2000. Afterward he reinvested in several businesses, including mining. A large portion of his wealth was made from OGX, an oil and gas exploration company founded in 2007. In 2010, he became the wealthiest person in Brazil, with an estimated fortune of US$ 27.0 billion, making him the fourth richest person living in the Americas and the eighth richest person in the world according to Forbes Magazine.

Personal life

He married the famous Brazilian actress, Playboy cover girl, and carnival queen Luma de Oliveira in 1991 and had two children with her, Thor and Olin, before divorcing in 2004.

Batista is known for maintaining a high profile. He is outspoken about his target of becoming the richest person in the world. His donations often make headlines, as when he bid R$ 500,000 on a suit used by President Lula on inauguration day, with proceeds going to charity. Batista pledged to donate R$ 20 million yearly, for five years, to the Pacifying Police Unit program in Rio de Janeiro.

Batista is superstitious, with a particular fondness for the number 63, the Sun, and the letter X, that is featured in all his companies' names for its supposed money-attracting quality.

Batista's oil company OGX was created in 2007 and will start oil production in 2012; the first time a company has started oil production in such a short time.

He and his older son Thor Batista love speed boats. Batista owns a 48 foot kevlar/carbon fiber made Catamaran with two 1600 horsepower twin-supercharged V8 engines. The boat is capable of reaching speeds of over 160 miles per hour.

Enterprises

Major companies founded by Eike Batista:

EBX

MMX

OGX

MPX

LLX

Mr Lam (Chinese restaurant)

Port of Peruíbe

OSX

References

Category:1956 births Category:Living people Category:Brazilian billionaires Category:Brazilian people of German descent Category:People from Minas Gerais Category:RWTH Aachen University alumni

de:Eike Batista fr:Eike Batista it:Eike Batista my:အိုက်ခ်ဘာတစ်စတာ nl:Eike Batista pt:Eike Batista zh:埃克·巴蒂斯塔

Name	Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
Alt	Portrait of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
Office	35th President of Brazil
Vicepresident	José Alencar
Term start	1 January 2003
Term end	31 December 2010
Predecessor	Fernando Henrique Cardoso
Successor	Dilma Rousseff
Office2	Leader of the Workers' Party
Term start2	10 February 1980
Term end2	15 November 1994
Predecessor2	Position established
Successor2	Rui Falcão
Birth date	October 27, 1945
Birth place	Caetés, Brazil
Nationality	Brazilian
Party	Workers' Party
Spouse	Maria de Lurdes (Deceased)Marisa Letícia Rocco Casa
Children	Fábio LuísLurian CordeiroLuís CláudioMarcos Cláudio (Adopted)Sandro Luís
Residence	São Bernardo do Campo
Profession	Automotive workerUnion organizer
Religion	Roman Catholicism
Signature	Signature of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.svg
Signature alt	Lula (Signature of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva) }}

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva ( ; born 27 October 1945), known popularly as Lula, served as the 35th President of Brazil from 2003 to 2010.

A founding member of the Workers' Party (PT – ''Partido dos Trabalhadores''), he ran for President three times unsuccessfully, first in the 1989 election. Lula achieved victory in the 2002 election, and was inaugurated as President on 1 January 2003. In the 2006 election he was re-elected for a second term as President, which ended on 31 December 2010. He was succeeded by his former Chief of Staff, Dilma Rousseff.

He is often regarded as the most popular politician in the history of Brazil and, at the time of his mandate, one of the most popular in the world. Social programs like Bolsa Família and Fome Zero are hallmarks of his time in office. Lula played a prominent role in recent international relations developments, including the Nuclear program of Iran and global warming, and was described as "a man with audacious ambitions to alter the balance of power among nations." He was featured in ''Time''s ''The 100 Most Influential People in the World'' for 2010, and has been called "the most successful politician of his time."

Early life

Luiz Inácio da Silva was born on 27 October 1945 (but registered with a date of birth of 6 October 1945) in Caetés (then a district of Garanhuns), located 155 miles (250 km) from Recife, capital of Pernambuco, a Brazilian state. He was the seventh of eight children of Aristides Inácio da Silva and Eurídice Ferreira de Melo. Two weeks after Lula's birth, his father moved to Santos with Valdomira Ferreira de Góis, a cousin of Eurídice. Lula is of Portuguese ancestry.

In December 1952, when Lula was only 7 years old, his mother decided to move to São Paulo with her children to rejoin her husband. After a journey of thirteen days in a ''pau-de-arara'' (the open cargo area of a truck), they arrived in Guarujá and discovered that Aristides had formed a second family with Valdomira. Aristides' two families lived in the same house for some time, but they didn't get along very well, and four years later, Eurídice moved with her children to a small room in the back area of a bar in the city of São Paulo. After that, Lula rarely saw his father, who became an alcoholic and died in 1978.

Lula was married twice. In 1969, he married Maria de Lourdes, who died of hepatitis in 1971, when she was pregnant with their first son, who also died. Lula and Miriam Cordeiro had a daughter, Lurian, out of wedlock in 1974. In 1974, Lula married Marisa, his current wife and at the time a widow, with whom he had three sons (he has also adopted Marisa's son from her first marriage).

Education and work

Lula had little formal education. He did not learn to read until he was ten years old, and quit school after the fourth grade in order to work to help his family. His working life began at age 12 as a shoeshiner and street vendor. By age 14 he got his first formal job in a copper processing factory as a lathe operator.

At age 19, he lost the little finger on his left hand in an accident while working as a press operator in an automobile parts factory. After losing his finger he had to run to several hospitals before he received medical attention. This experience increased his interest in participating within the Workers' Union. Around that time, he became involved in union activities and held several important union posts. Due to perceived incompatibility with the Brazilian military government and trade union activities, Lula's views moved further to the political left.

Union career

Inspired by his brother Frei Chico, Lula joined the labour movement when he worked at Indústrias Villares. He rose steadily in the ranks, and was elected in 1975, and reelected in 1978, president of the Steel Workers' Union of São Bernardo do Campo and Diadema. Both cities are located in the ABCD Region, home to most of Brazil's automobile manufacturing facilities (such as Ford, Volkswagen, Toyota, Mercedes-Benz and others) and are among the most industrialized in the country. In the late 1970s, when Brazil was under military rule, Lula helped organize union activities, including major strikes. Labour courts found the strikes to be illegal, and Lula was jailed for a month. Due to this, and like other people imprisoned for political activities under the military government, Lula was awarded a lifetime pension after the regime fell.

Political career

On 10 February 1980, a group of academics, intellectuals, and union leaders, including Lula, founded the ''Partido dos Trabalhadores'' (PT) or Workers' Party, a left-wing party with progressive ideas created in the midst of Brazil's military government.

In 1982 he added the nickname ''Lula'' to his legal name. In 1983 he helped found the Central Única dos Trabalhadores (CUT) union association. In 1984 PT and Lula joined the popular ''Diretas Já!'' (''Direct [Elections] Now!'') campaign, demanding a direct popular vote for the next Brazilian presidential election. According to the 1967 constitution, Presidents were at that time elected by both Houses of Congress in joint session, with representatives of all State Legislatures; this was widely recognised as a mere sham as, since the March 1964 coup d'état, each "elected" President had been a retired general chosen in a closed military caucus. Lula and the PT supported the public demand for a change in the electoral system. But the campaign was defeated by a vote in Congress which rejected an amendment calling direct elections for next year, and in 1985 a civilian president, Tancredo Neves, was elected by the same indirect procedure, with Lula's support. Only four years later, as a direct result of ''Diretas Já!'' and after years of popular struggle, the 1989 elections were the first to elect a President by direct popular vote in 29 years.

Elections

Lula first ran for office in 1982, for the state government of São Paulo and lost. In the 1986 elections Lula won a seat in Congress with the most votes nationwide. The Workers' Party helped write the country's post-military government Constitution, ensuring strong constitutional guarantees for workers' rights, but failed to achieve a proposed push for agrarian reform in the Constitutional text. Under Lula's leadership, the PT took a stance against the Constitution in the 1988 Constituent Assembly, grudgingly agreeing to sign the convened draft at a later stage.

In 1989, still as a Congressman, Lula ran as the PT candidate in the first democratic elections for President since 1960. Lula and Leonel Brizola, two popular left-wing candidates, were expected to vie for first place. Lula was viewed as the most left-leaning of the two, advocating immediate land reform and a default on the external debt. However, a minor candidate, Fernando Collor de Mello, former governor of Alagoas, quickly amassed support among the nation's élite with a more business-friendly agenda. Collor became popular taking emphatic anti-corruption positions; he eventually beat Lula in the second round of the 1989 elections. In 1992, Collor resigned, under threat of impeachment for his alleged embezzlement of public money.

Lula refused to run for re-election as a Congressman in 1990, busying himself with expanding the Workers' Party organizations around the country. As the political scene in the 1990s came under the sway of the Brazilian real monetary stabilization plan, which ended decades of rampant inflation, former Minister of Finance Fernando Henrique Cardoso (Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB)) defeated Lula in 1994 and again, by an even wider margin, in 1998.

Before winning the presidency in 2002, Lula had been a strident union organizer known for his bushy beard and Che Guevara t-shirts. In the 2002 campaign, Lula foreswore both his informal clothing style and his platform plank of linking the payment of Brazil's foreign debt to a prior thorough audit. This last point had worried economists, businessmen and banks, who feared that even a partial Brazilian default along with the existing Argentine default would have a massive ripple effect through the world economy. Embracing political consultant Duda Mendonça's advice to pursue a more media-friendly image, Lula became President after winning the second round of the 2002 election, held on 27 October, defeating the PSDB candidate José Serra.

Presidency

Lula served 2 terms as president and left office on January 1, 2011. During his farewell speech he said he felt an additional burden to prove that he could handle the presidency despite his humble beginnings. "If I failed, it would be the workers' class which would be failing; it would be this country's poor who would be proving they did not have what it takes to rule."

Political orientation

Since the beginning of his political career to the present, Lula has changed some of his original ideas and moderated his positions. Instead of the drastic social changes he proposed in the past, his government chose a reformist line, passing new retirement, tax, labour and judicial legislation, and discussing university reform.

Very few actual reforms have been implemented so far. Some wings of the Worker's Party have disagreed with this moderation in focus and have left the party to form dissident wings such as the Workers' Cause Party, the United Socialist Workers' Party and the Socialism and Freedom Party. Alliances with conservative, right wing politicians, like former Presidents José Sarney and Fernando Collor, have been a cause of disappointment for some. On 1 October 2006, Lula narrowly missed winning another term in the first round of elections. He faced a run-off on 29 October which he won by a substantial margin.

In an interview published 26 August 2007, he said that he had no intention to seek a constitutional change so that he could run for a third consecutive term; he also said that he wanted "to reach the end of [his] term in a strong position in order to influence the succession."

Social projects

Lula put social programs at the top of his agenda during the campaign and since being elected. Lula's leading program since very early on has been a campaign to eradicate hunger, following the lead of projects already put into practice by the Fernando Henrique Cardoso administration, but expanded within the new ''Fome Zero'' ("Zero Hunger"). This program brings together a series of programs with the goal to end hunger in Brazil: the creation of water cisterns in Brazil's semi-arid region of Sertão, plus actions to counter teenage pregnancy, to strengthen family agriculture, to distribute a minimum amount of cash to the poor, and many other measures.

Brazil's largest assistance program, however, is ''Bolsa Família'' ("Family Allowance"), which is an expansion based upon the previous ''Bolsa Escola'' ("School Allowance"), which was conditional on school attendance, first introduced in the city of Campinas by then-mayor José Roberto Magalhães Teixeira. Not long thereafter, other municipalities and states adopted similar programs. President Fernando Henrique Cardoso later federalized the program in 2001. In 2003, Lula formed ''Bolsa Família'' by combining ''Bolsa Escola'' with additional allowances for food and kitchen gas. This was preceded by the creation of a new ministry – the Ministry of Social Development and Eradication of Hunger. This merger reduced administrative costs and bureaucratic complexity for both the families involved and the administration of the program.

''Fome Zero'' has a government budget and accepts donations from the private sector and international organizations The ''Bolsa Família'' program has been praised internationally for its achievements, despite internal criticism accusing it of having turned into an electoral weapon.

Along with projects such as ''Fome Zero'' and ''Bolsa Família'', the Lula administration flagship program is the Growth Acceleration Program (PAC). The PAC has a total budget of $646 billion reais (US $353 billion) by 2010, and was the Lula administration's main investment program. It is intended to strengthen Brazil's infrastructure, and consequently to stimulate the private sector and create more jobs. The social and urban infrastructure sector was scheduled to receive $84.2 billion reais (US $46 billion). Together with increases in real wage levels (as characterised by a 54% real increase in the minimum wage), these projects had a major impact on poverty alleviation, with around 25 million Brazilians lifted out of poverty between 2002 and 2010.

Economy

As Lula gained strength in the run-up to the 2002 elections, the fear of drastic measures (and comparisons with Hugo Chávez of Venezuela) increased internal market speculation. This led to some market hysteria, contributing to a currency maxi-devaluation on the real, and a rise in Brazil's risk factor by more than 2000 base points.

In the beginning of his first term, Lula's chosen Minister of Finance was Antonio Palocci, a physician and former Trotskyist activist who had recanted his far left views while serving as the mayor of the sugarcane processing industry center of Ribeirão Preto, in the state of São Paulo. Lula also chose Henrique Meirelles of the Brazilian Social Democracy Party, a prominent market-oriented economist, as head of the Brazilian Central Bank. As a former CEO of the BankBoston he was well-known to the market. Meirelles was elected to the Chamber of Deputies in 2002 as a member of the opposing PSDB, but resigned as deputy to become Governor of the Central Bank.

Silva and his cabinet followed in part the lead of the previous government, by renewing all agreements with the International Monetary Fund, which were signed by the time Argentina defaulted on its own deals in 2001. His government achieved a satisfactory primary budget surplus in the first two years, as required by the IMF agreement, exceeding the target for the third year. In late 2005, the government paid off its debt to the IMF in full, two years ahead of schedule. Three years after the election, Lula had slowly but firmly gained the market's confidence, and sovereign risk indexes fell to around 250 points. The government's choice of inflation targeting kept the economy stable, and was complimented during the 2005 World Economic Forum in Davos.

The Brazilian economy was generally not affected by the mensalão scandal. In early 2006, however, Palocci had to resign as finance minister due to his involvement in an abuse of power scandal. Lula then appointed Guido Mantega, a member of the PT and an economist by profession, as finance minister. Mantega, a former Marxist who had written a Ph.D. thesis (in Sociology) on the history of economic ideas in Brazil from a left-wing viewpoint, is presently known for his criticism of high interest rates, something he claims satisfy banking interests. So far, however, Brazil's interest rates remain among the highest in the world. Mantega has been supportive of a higher employment by the state.

Not long after the start of his second term, Lula, alongside his cabinet, announced the new Growth Acceleration Program (the ''Programa de Aceleração de Crescimento'', or PAC, in Portuguese), an investment program to solve many of the problems that prevent the Brazilian economy from expanding more rapidly. The measures include investment in the creation and repair of roads and railways, simplification and reduction of taxation, and modernization on the country's energy production to avoid further shortages. The money promised to be spent in this Program is considered to be around R$ 500 billion (more than 250 billion dollars) over four years. Part of the measures still depend on approval by Congress. Prior to taking office, Lula had been a critic of privatization policies. In his government, however, his administration has created public-private partnership concessions for seven federal roadways.

After decades as the largest foreign debtor among emerging economies, Brazil became a net creditor for the first time in January 2008. By mid-2008, both Fitch ratings and S&P; had elevated the classification of Brazilian debt from speculative to investment grade. Banks have had record profit in Lula's government. The Lula Administration's economic policies also helped to significantly raise living standards, with the percentage of Brazilians belonging to the consumerist middle class rising from 37% to 50% of the population.

Foreign policy

According to ''The Economist'' of 2 March 2006, Lula has a pragmatic foreign policy, seeing himself as a negotiator, not an ideologue. As a result, he has befriended both Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez and former U.S. President George W. Bush. Leading a large and competitive agricultural state, Lula generally opposes and criticizes farm subsidies, and this position has been seen as one of the reasons for the walkout of developing nations and subsequent collapse of the Cancún World Trade Organization talks in 2003 over G8 agricultural subsidies. Brazil is becoming influential in dialogue between South America and developed countries, especially the United States. It played an important role in negotiations in internal conflicts of Venezuela and Colombia, and concentrated efforts on strengthening Mercosur.

During the Lula administration, Brazilian foreign trade has increased dramatically, changing from deficits to several surpluses since 2003. In 2004 the surplus reached $29 billion due to a substantial increase in global demand for commodities. Brazil has also provided UN peace-keeping troops and leads a peace-keeping mission in Haiti.

Lula also gained increasing stature in the Southern hemisphere buoyed by economic growth in his country. In 2008, he was said to have become a "point man for healing regional crises," as in the escalation of tensions between Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador. Former Finance Minister, and current advisor, Delfim Netto, said: "Lula is the ultimate pragmatist."

He travelled to more than 80 countries during his presidency. A goal of Lula's foreign policy has been for the country to gain a seat as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. In this he has so far been unsuccessful. And Lula was considered to have pulled off a major coup with Turkey in regards to getting Iran to send its uranium abroad in contravention of western calls.

The condemnation of Iranian Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani for the crime of adultery, and who was originally to be executed by stoning led to calls for Lula da Silva's intervention on her behalf. On the issue, Lula commented that "I need to respect the laws of a [foreign] country. If my friendship with the president of Iran and the respect that I have for him is worth something, if this woman has become a nuisance, we will receive her in Brazil." The Iranian government, however, declined the offer. Lula da Silva's actions and comments sparked controversy. Mina Ahadi, an Iranian Communist politician, welcomed Lula da Silva's offer of asylum for Ashtiani, but also reiterated a call for an end to stoning altogether and requesting a cessation of recognition and support for the Iranian government. Jackson Diehl, the right-leaning Deputy Editorial Page Editor of The Washington Post, called Lula da Silva the "best friend of tyrants in the democratic world" and criticised his actions. Shirin Ebadi, Iranian human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner, viewed Lula da Silva's intervention in a more positive light, calling it a "powerful message to the Islamic Republic."

Corruption scandals and controversy

Lula's administration was plagued by corruption scandals, most notably the mensalão and sanguessugas scandals, in his first term. Although the independent office of the Brazilian Attorney-General presented charges against 40 politicians and officials involved in the Mensalão affair, no charges have ever been presented against Lula himself, and top officials involved, such as Roberto Jefferson, José Dirceu, Luiz Gushiken and Humberto Costa denied he was aware of any wrongdoing. Having lost numerous government aides in the face of political turmoil, Lula has come largely unscathed in the eyes of the public, with overwhelming approval rates.

His administration has been heavily criticized for relying on local political barons, like José Sarney, Jader Barbalho, Renan Calheiros and Fernando Collor, to ensure a majority in Congress. He lost some important votes there, though, for example when the Senate barred the financial tax from being reinstated. Another frequent reproach relates to his ambiguous treatment of the left wing in the Workers' Party. Analysts fear that he occasionally gives in to their wishes for tighter government control of the media and increased state intervention: in 2004, he pushed for the creation of a "Federal Council of Journalists" (CFJ) and a "National Cinema Agency" (Ancinav), the latter of which would overhaul funding for electronic communications. Both proposals ultimately failed amid concerns that they would lead to excessive state intervention over free speech. Fernando Cardoso, Lula's predecessor as the president of Brazil, has accused Lula of denying any positive achievements allegedly made by the Cardoso administration.

In March 2009, before an appearance at the G-20 summit meeting in London, Lula caused an uproar when he declared that the economic crisis was caused by "the irrational behavior of white people with blue eyes, who before seemed to know everything, and now have shown they don't know anything." Despite a decision upheld by the Brazilian Supreme Court, Lula decided to deny extradition of the Italian far-left terrorist Cesare Battisti.

Awards and recognition

Since Lula began his term as President, he has attained numerous medals, such as the Brazilian Order of Merit, the Brazilian Orders of Military, Naval and Aeronautical Merit, the Brazilian Order of Scientific Merit, the Order of the Southern Cross, the Mexican Order of the Aztec Eagle and the Norwegian Order of Royal Merit; the First Class of the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise (Ukraine, 2003), the Order of Liberty (Ukraine, 2009). He also received the Prince of Asturias Award for International Cooperation in 2003 and was the chief guest at India's Republic Day celebration in 2004. He was also given the Jawaharlal Nehru Award in 2006. He was rated the most popular Brazilian president of all time with an 80.5% approval rate in his last months as the president.

US President Barack Obama greeted him at the G20 summit in London (April, 2009) saying: "That's my man right there...love this guy...The most popular politician on earth."

Lula was chosen as the 2009 Man of the Year by prominent European newspapers ''El País'' and ''Le Monde''. The ''Financial Times'' ranks Lula among the 50 faces that shaped the 2000s.

On 20 December 2008, he was named the 18th most important person in the world by ''Newsweek'' magazine, and was the only Latin American person featured in a list of 50 most influential World leaders.

On July 7, 2009, he received UNESCO's Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, France. On 5 November 2009, President Lula was awarded the Chatham House Prize, awarded to the statesperson who is deemed by Chatham House members to have made the most significant contribution to the improvement of international relations in the previous year.

On 29 January 2010, President Lula was awarded as a Global Statesman by the World Economic Forum, held in Davos, Switzerland, but could not attend the ceremony due to problems of high blood pressure.

In 2010, Time Magazine named Lula one of the most influential leaders of the world.

See also

''Lula, o filho do Brasil'', a Brazilian film about Lula's life up to 35 years of age.

References

Further reading

Silva, Luis Inácio da; Castro, Cassiana Rosa de; Machado, Sueli de Fátima; Santos, Alveci Oliveira de Orato; Ferreira, Luiz Tarcísio Teixeira; Teixeira, Paulo; Suplicy, Marta; Dutra, Olívio (2003). "The programme for land tenure legalization on public land in São Paulo, Brazil." ''Environment and Urbanization'' 15 (2): 191–200.

Bourne, R (2008). ''Lula of Brazil : The story so far''. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-24663-8

Goertzel, Ted (2011). ''Brazil's Lula: The Most Popular Politician on Earth''. Boca Raton, Florida: Brown Walker Press. ISBN 978-1612335056.

External links

Profile: Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, ''BBC News'', 28 January 2010

The 2010 TIME 100: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Michael Moore, ''Time'', 20 April 2010

;Speeches

Transcript of statements by Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, President of Brazil, to the high-level meeting for foreign investors, UNCTAD, 29 January 2004, (meeting press release)

General Debate of the 64th Session, United Nations, 2009

|-

Category:1945 births Category:Brazilian amputees Category:Brazilian Christian socialists Category:Brazilian Order of Scientific Merit recipients Category:Brazilian presidential candidates Category:Brazilian Roman Catholics Category:Brazilian socialists Category:Honorary Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Category:Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St. Olav Category:Royal Norwegian Order of Merit Category:Recipients of the Order of the Southern Cross Category:Recipients of the Order of the Aztec Eagle Category:Recipients of the Order of Liberty (Ukraine) Category:Recipients of the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise Category:Living people Category:Members of the Chamber of Deputies of Brazil Category:People from Pernambuco Category:Politicians with physical disabilities Category:Presidents of Brazil Category:Presidents of the Workers' Party (Brazil) Category:Workers' Party (Brazil) politicians

af:Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva als:Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva ar:لويس إيناسيو لولا دا سيلفا an:Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva frp:Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva ast:Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva zh-min-nan:Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva be:Луіс Інасіу Лула да Сілва br:Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva bg:Луис Инасиу Лула да Силва ca:Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva cs:Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva cy:Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva da:Luiz Inácio da Silva de:Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva et:Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva el:Λουίς Ινάσιο Λούλα ντα Σίλβα eml:Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva es:Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva eo:Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva eu:Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva fa:لوئیس ایناسیو لولا داسیلوا fr:Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva ga:Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva gv:Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva gl:Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva ko:루이스 이나시우 룰라 다 시우바 hi:लुइज़ इंसियो लूला दा सिल्वा hsb:Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva hr:Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva io:Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva id:Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva ia:Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is:Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva it:Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva he:לואיז אינסיו דה סילבה ka:ლუის ინასიუ ლულა და სილვა la:Ludovicus Ignatius Lula da Silva lv:Luizs Inasiu Lula da Silva lb:Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva lt:Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva lmo:Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva mr:लुईझ इनाचियो लुला दा सिल्व्हा ms:Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva mn:Луис Инасио Лула да Силва nah:Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva nl:Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva ja:ルイス・イナシオ・ルーラ・ダ・シルヴァ no:Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva nn:Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva oc:Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva pap:Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva pl:Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva pt:Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva ro:Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva qu:Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva ru:Силва, Луис Инасиу Лула да simple:Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva sk:Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva cu:Лоуисъ Инасиоу Лоула да Силва ckb:لویس ئیناسیۆ لولا دا سیلڤا sr:Луис Инасију Лула да Силва sh:Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva fi:Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva sv:Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva ta:லுலா ட சில்வா tet:Lula da Silva tr:Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva uk:Луїз Інасіу Лула да Сілва vec:Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva vi:Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva yo:Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva zh-yue:盧拉 zh:路易斯·伊纳西奥·卢拉·达席尔瓦