SOME LETTERS TO THE EDITOR (WASH. TIMES)
August 19, 2002

Next stop for war on terror: Brazil?
Constantine C. Menges' column "Blocking a new axis of evil" (Commentary, Aug. 7) is an outrage to all Brazilian people.
First, I do not sympathize with presidential candidate Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva because I don't think he's really prepared for that office. Even so, I cannot imagine all the unnamable horrors predicted by Mr. Menges would happen if Mr. da Silva were elected. Indeed, Mr. Menges' column is like a jigsaw puzzle with no matching pieces: lots of old and inaccurate information (such as Mr. da Silva's connections to Cuban leader Fidel Castro) rearranged to make Brazil look like a potential terrorist threat to America.
Brazil has its own problems battling narcotics traffic, so tell me one good reason why would it help the Colombian terrorist outfit FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia), which is financed with drug money? Also, Mr. Menges' speculation about Brazil developing nuclear weapons is ludicrous; we hardly have a decently working nuclear power plant.
If this column was meant to turn Brazil into an enemy in your readers' eyes, it seems as if reverse propaganda has occurred. If more Brazilians are thinking like me at this moment, they are thinking that the United States has been behaving in a paranoid manner since last September, seeing terrorist threats everywhere.

PEDRO GIGLIO
Rio de Janeiro


It is bad enough that the international financial community has seen fit to punish Brazilians for expressing dissatisfaction at the polls. Now neo-Cold Warriors such as Constantine C. Menges are playing the terrorism card to discredit one of Latin America's most distinguished champions of democracy, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Mr. da Silva gained notoriety on the front lines of the democracy movement in the late 1970s and was pivotal in the dismantling of Brazil's military rule. People may disagree with his policies, but there is no doubt about his commitment to democratic principles. He is no Hugo Chavez of Venezuela or Fidel Castro.
His party leaders have proved themselves skilled managers of Brazil's largest cities, and they have promised to clean up Brazil's notoriously corrupt government. Even current President Fernando Henrique Cardoso respects Mr. da Silva and his Labor Party and has
vowed to endorse him in a runoff election against the populist Ciro Gomes.
The people we should fear in Brazil are Mr. da Silva's enemies. Armed with an ideology of fear, they may overthrow the government and remilitarize Brazil. Mr. Menges' essay plays into the hands of the real enemy, an enemy that is far more dangerous than Mr. da Silva
ever could be.

MARK ANDREWS
Student
Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies
University of California in San Diego
San Diego