Cristovam Buarque “Challenges for the Brazilian Economy: Education and Political Transformation in Brazil” November 4, 2004

Senator Cristovam Buarque speaks on "Education and Political Transformation in Brazil" in the Geballe Room on November 4, 2004.

-Download the Powerpoint presentation from Senator Buarque's talk on "Education and Political Transformation in Brazil"

Brazilian Senator Outlines New Approach to Development
By Tiffany Linton Page

Brazilian Senator Cristovam Buarque outlined a new vision for social change in Latin America at the Center for Latin American Studies’ Rio Branco Forum. He declared, “Social policies are the only alternative for a social revolution in a global neoliberal world.” His statement represents a new approach to addressing issues of inequality and poverty.

Buarque said that Brazil needs to focus on paying-off its “social debt” — basic goods and services that the government hasn’t been providing to the poor. He rejected the approach to development that emphasizes pursuit of economic growth as a means to eliminate poverty. Buarque argued that economists neglect the positive economic impact of changes in the social system. As a result, the social debt is often overlooked. He explained, “Social debt prevents 50 million Brazilians from entering the market, drastically reduces productivity, creates permanent insecurity and increases the country risk assessment.”

Rather than focusing on short-term economic objectives, such as renewing growth, increasing exports, etc., Buarque emphasized the importance of creating a socially inclusive society, an educated and healthy populace and scientific and technological infrastructure. His strategy focuses on education as a means to both addressing the vast poverty in Brazil and catalyzing economic growth. He argued that cash transfers to poor families will not eliminate poverty because the government never has enough money to entirely end poverty. Rather, he suggested that the government should ensure that families have access to essential goods and services.

Buarque discussed the education proposal that he will present to his colleagues in Congress later this month. His goal is to ensure that all Brazilians have access to education, as well as to improve the quality of the education system. The plan involves enacting legislation that makes basic education and a minimum curriculum compulsory, guarantees basic equipment for schools, creates a federal teacher certification program and establishes a national minimum salary for teachers. In addition, he wants to create an education responsibility law that punishes mayors for not following through with the objectives of the National Education Plan.

The crowd in the Geballe Room listened as Senator Buarque outlined his plans for a "social shock" to try to jumpstart development in Brazil, not by economic means, but by plans for social development.

Buarque said that he supports the Bolsa Escola education program, which was established nationally by former President Cardoso based on a program Buarque created as Governor. The program requires school attendance in exchange for a cash transfer. Under Lula, Bolsa Escola was combined with other programs under the Ministry of Social Assistance and the condition that children attend school was dropped. Buarque would like to see the program separated from the social assistance programs and brought back under the Ministry of Education, more funds allocated to it and the school attendance condition reinstated. In addition, Buarque suggested implementing a complementary program called Poupanca-Escola, which would provide incentives for students to remain in school through completion of high school. The program would require the government to annually deposit money into a savings account for each child who successfully completes a year of school. Upon graduation from high school, the child would receive the money from the government.

Buarque also outlined other ways Brazilian society needs to pay its social debt, including universalizing access to water and sewage systems, as well as creating a land reform program, small-scale agro-industry, an irrigation program in the Northeast, a microcredit program, a home health care program and a civil service program. He also advocated providing more funds to universities with the condition that they be used in areas with social impact (i.e. to train teachers). In addition, Buarque believes the government should establish a minimum income program to reach those who will not benefit from any other social programs and lack access to basic goods and services.

Buarque’s emphasis on social policies as the road to both social and economic development represents a break with the economy-centered approach of the last 25 years. It also differs from the left’s previous strategies for eliminating social and economic inequality. In the ’60 and ’70s, leftist leaders rose to power in Latin America, calling for changes in the social and economic relationships both within countries and between countries. In reaction, repressive dictatorships took power. They were eventually dismantled. Now we see again the rise of leaders from leftist parties throughout Latin America. This time, however, they are taking a more cautious approach to social change, generally playing by the rules of the neoliberal game.

Senator Buarque, shown here with Georges Lamazière, the Consul General of Brazil in San Francisco, is also the former Minister of Education.

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio (Lula) da Silva of the leftist Partido dos Trabalhadores (Worker’s Party) rose to power on a platform dedicated to eliminating poverty and inequality. As other left-leaning governments have realized once they reached power, it is difficult to balance the need to adhere to the demands of global economic actors and the desire to make progress on social issues. In the neoliberal global economic order, developing countries are limited in the types of economic policies they can use to address the issue of social and economic inequality.

Upon news of his victory, Lula assured the world that Brazil would honor its financial commitments and maintain neoliberal economic policies. He has followed through with his economic promises to global actors to the detriment of his social promises to his Brazilian constituents. As a result, limited progress has been made on social issues during the first two years of his administration. Consequently, Brazil is searching for new strategies to address the pressing social issues the country faces.

Buarque’s plan is one such attempt to make real progress on social objectives given the constraints of today’s global economy. He argued that Brazil can find a way to fund his education program. The costs, he said, would be minor in comparison to national expenditures. The total projected expenditures of the programs he proposed is R$47.3 billion (US$16.7 billion). After deducting the projected benefits of the programs from the total cost, he arrived at a net cost of R$12.5 billion (US$4.4 billion).

Among other things, he argued that establishing compulsory basic education would not require an initial investment because there are already teachers and schools. This, however, ignores the likelihood that the existing educational infrastructure won’t be able to accommodate the larger numbers of students that will be arriving at school as a result of such legislation. The initial costs may in fact be higher than he projected. However, Buarque cogently points out, “We always consider the cost of social programs, but never the cost of not investing.”

Cristovam Buarque is currently a member of the Brazilian Senate. He previously served as Minister of Education (2003-04) and governor of the Federal District of Brasilia (1995-98). Buarque presented his paper “Challenges for the Brazilian Economy: Education and Political Transformation in Brazil” on November 4, 2004.

Tiffany Linton Page is a graduate student in the Department of Sociology.

Cristovam Buarque is a member of the Brazilian Senate. He previously served as Minister of Education (2003-04) and governor of the Federal District of Brasília (1995-98) and is the founder and president of Missão Criança, an NGO which aims to help the children of poor families attend school. He holds a degree from the University of Pernambuco in mechanical engineering and a doctorate from the Sorbonne in Economics.