Abstract
An analysis of Lula's economic and social policy during his first term (2003—2006) shows the degree to which Celso Furtado's predictions about the outcome of market fundamentalism in Latin America and the direction of the Lula government in Brazil have materialized. Faced with the daunting task of administering Cardoso's legacy of massive indebtedness, Lula's priority was to ensure debt-service payments and gain international credibility by strictly following the prescriptions of the old and the new or revised Washington Consensus, thus breaking his promise of a social transformation with a new development model. The central question now is whether a second Lula administration (2007—2010) will represent a transition to a national strategy capable of producing economic growth with social inclusion. Furtado's structuralist insights provide the basis for the elaboration and implementation of an alternative development project for the country and the region at large.
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