Social program in Brazil

Yet again there is an example of just how the so-called "markets" feel threatened by even modest reforms that favor the poor. In Axel Bugge's report on page 9 of The Jakarta Post, Oct. 7 we read, "Though a Lula victory might bring hope to the millions of Brazilians who live in poverty, the prospect has already unsettled financial players in Brazil and on Wall Street."

That about says it all, the current economic order rests on gross iniquities when a small caste of "financial players", for which we should read "speculators" is threatened by a man we are told "now professes a commitment to moderate economic policies while trying to improve social programs from health to education".

I don't know how much real hope the Brazilian poor should invest in Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's program, but it is obvious from this distance that he has more in common with them than the unrepresentative rag-tag of fat cats playing the "markets".

DAVID JARDINE

Jakarta