The PT’s Rise to Power

The PT arose in 1979 in the wake of a massive labor revolt by millions of industrial workers in the years 1978 and 1979. The party was officially formed in February 1980, when 1200 workers approved a manifesto during a meeting in São Paulo (Baiocchi 2003, 10). It was during this period of labor unrest that Lulathen president of the Metalworkers’ Union of São Bernardo do Campo and Diadema on the outskirts of São Paulo, Brazil’s most industrialized city emerged as the new movement’s leader (Foster 2007). In the 22 years that the party spent trying to win the presidency (Lula unsuccessfully ran in 1989, 1993 and 1998), it progressively shifted its discourse and political program. By 2002, when Lula finally won the elections, the campaign platform had omitted the term socialism, given up plans of radical land reforms, and promised to adhere to the existing agreements with the IMF (Kingstone and Power 2008, 24). Since then, the largest leftist political party in Latin America has presided over the largest economy and welfare program of the region, which is called Bolsa Familia. It is to this program that I turn now.