Forum Overview :: Motherfucking News :: Context for what is going on here, for Americanos who have no idea

[quote name="blackwater"]Lula was a left-wing president of Brazil in the 2000s. He was known for a huge expansion of the dole and generally being kind of the Brazillian answer to Hugo Chavez (who he was friendly with). He was more moderate than Chavez, though, and the Brazillian economy did ok during his years in power. In addition to metaphorical vote buying, which is not illegal, Lula was <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Car_Wash">accused of trying to siphon money from the state-owned petroleum company.</a> Again, this is very similar to Chavez, who basically turned Petróleos de Venezuela into a piggy bank for himself and his political party. Whereas Chavez got away with it, though, Lula did not. He got caught, and after a complicated set of judicial manuevers, eventually disbarred from the presidency. His chosen successor turned out not to be very charismatic, and the opposition (Bolsonaro) took power instead. Or at least, this is the story as American newspapers reported for the last decade or two. After all the lawfare against the Trump administration, I'm slightly more sympathetic to Lula than I was in the past. And of course, not as willing to trust the Official Media Narrative (and it was pretty official, I can't remember any major US newspaper being sympathetic to Lula). For what it's worth, the media pendulum seems to have swung back here in the states: Bolsanaro has been compared to Trump, and of course we all know Orange Man Bad. Therefore Lula must be good. Or something. Anyway, a Latin American country is going to get some more socialism. Is that a good thing? Do you care? Probably not on both counts, but you read this far, so have a metaphorical pat on the back.[/quote]