The battle for the White House

Resumo

Lula’s candidacy for president of Brazil more than eight years ago was received with considerable skepticism and mistrust in the U.S. But outgoing Brazilian president Cardoso, the new American ambassador to Brazil Donna Hrinak, and Jose Dirceu, president of the Workers’ Party, orchestrated a campaign for Lula’s acceptance that culminated in a telephone call from President Bush within hours of the vote count. Mathias Spektor gives a play-by-play account of how that came about.