South America’s ‘Sleeping Giant’ Wakes: Brazil’s 2010 Election

Origins at eHistory

Eight years ago, the prospect of a victory by the leftist Workers' Party candidate Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in Brazil's 2002 presidential election sent shockwaves through international financial markets, prompting the IMF to step in with an emergency loan to steady the nerves of investors fearing default by a Lula government. This year, things could not be more different. President Lula da Silva is completing his second term with an 80% popularity rating, Brazil has paid off its foreign currency-denominated debt; has become a net creditor to the IMF. With the recent discovery of vast reserves of deep sea oil, and having won the chance to host both the 2016 Summer Olympics and 2014 World Cup in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil seems poised to fulfill its perennial promise of becoming the 'country of the future,' despite many challenges ahead.