Reply to Prof. Menges,

I appreciate your prompt reply and the polite tone of your note, Professor Menges, but the strength of my beliefs and the absolute abhorrence I have for your absurd positions do not allow me to reciprocate so kindly. You say that you have always been a strong opponent of dictatorships: Am I to understand that you spoke out as vociferously against the military dictatorships in Brazil that proceeded their transition to "democracy"? Somehow I doubt that. After all, those were "our boys." It seems you're just another anti-left hypocrite, hiding behind the cloak of " pro-democracy" and fighting a futile battle against events and processes of which you have very little true grasp.

I'm sorry, professor, but your alarmist views simply aren't based in reality. I lived in Brazil under Cardoso for three years, I'm married to a politically astute Brazilian, and I know what the typical Brazilian thinks; there is no way Brazilians are going to tolerate a return to dictatorship, unless, of course, the U.S.--as it has done so many times in the past in Latin America, and always with counterproductive results--isolates the country and effectively sows the seeds for the type of scenario you warn against. Various representatives of the banking community just held talks w/ Lula and came away reassured; that alone questions the validity of your views. The best policy for the U.S. is to start preparing for the
possibility of a Lula victory and do whatever it can to ensure mutually productive relations between the two nations. In other words, the U.S. should exert its influence in a positive, not
negative, way--for once. Co-option, not confrontation, is the way to ensure that Brazil stays on a reasonably straight path. (I, for one, fear that too many Brazilians, already hypersensitive about the fragile state of their economy, will at the last minute have knee-
jerk reactions to all this foreign-generated crap being heaped on Lula--then they will vote for the "safe" candidate, the one that will not bring them change but will simply continue to bleed them dry with continued corruption, ineptitude, and inaction.)

You say it is your view that "the future of Brazil is up to the citizens of Brazil." Then why don't you leave it up to the citizens of Brazil? If the Brazilian electorate chooses their candidate
democratically, what right do you have to subvert that choice from afar? I am forwarding your article, message, and "strategic warning" to all my Brazilian friends here in the U.S. and in Brazil; I will also post them on various Brazilian forums that my wife and I participate in. (One response I have already received, from my very close friend who works for KPMG Consultants in Rio, is telling: Fucking lies!" she writes). I have yet to hear from a Brazilian who is not absolutely disgusted and alarmed with your views. And don't hand me that tired old "freedom of speech" line--I'm not saying you aren't entitled to your views. But disseminating agenda-driven misinformation is not something that should be taken lying down; it should be met with a loud and passionate objection. And I'm sure that you will be hearing those objections very soon via e-mail, phone calls, etc.

You say, "I hope that Brazil maintains its political freedom and has more social justice." First of all, this current state of affairs may very well represent a defining moment in Brazilian history, where Brazilians are finally exercising their political freedom to the maximum extent! And why do you think people are leaning toward Lula? Because those neo-liberal bozos that have held the reigns of power for the past several years have failed, like so many Brazilian governments before them, to deliver ANY real progress in social justice and stability.

After forty years of service, perhaps it's time for you to hang up your spurs (along w/ that dinosaur thinking of yours) and make way for some new blood that demonstrates more contemporary ideas and doesn't rely on divisive and exclusionary scare tactics. Forty years
of wrongs do not make a right (although, in your case, it has most assuredly made you "Right"!). People like you have done a hell of a job promoting misguided, damaging, and ultimately counterproductive foreign policies vis-a-vis Latin America. Your work is doing
absolutely no good for the citizens of this country or for those living outsider our borders. Despite what you and that cowboy in the White House might think, the Golden Age of commie/liberal-bashing is OVER! The "radical threat", you say? Christ, man, it's not the
1950s anymore. Do the world a favor and retire before you do any more damage.

Peter Castles