Brasília, 7/16/2003 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - "President Luís Inácio Lula da Silva is right in radicalizing some Fernando Henrique Cardoso policies", says the man known as the father of the idea of the Third Way, British sociologist, Anthony Giddens, in an exclusive BBC Brazil interview.

According to Giddens, Lula is moved by "a need to create a more just society in Brazil and combat hunger... It is a vision I am certain Tony Blair would endorse," declared Giddens, who is close to the prime minister. He is also the director of the London School of Economics and is considered the main architect of the theories behind the New Labour in England, the revised Labour Party ideology embraced by Tony Blair in the 1990s.

SOCIAL DEMOCRATS

With the election victory of Brazil's Workers Party (PT), the Third Way idea became an international reference for all social democrat parties, including those in Latin America. Lula's rise to the presidency, adhering to market rules while being concerned with social problems, is now seen by many as similar to what Tony Blair did during his first years in office.

"They (Lula and Blair) are different because they govern different countries. But there are a number of similarities, such as the way they want to fight poverty around the world," says Giddens.

Lula and Giddens were together on Monday (July 14) when the president of Brazil spoke at the London School of Economics. Following the Lula speech, Giddens caused a sensation when he declared that the president just might change not only Brazil, but the world.

"Lula is well-known worldwide," said Giddens, adding that his international "agenda" is to seek a better distribution of international aid, eliminate farm subsidies and obtain more representation for developing nations in international institutions.

"Lula is absolutely right in his attempts to get rich nations to give more of their wealth to help less developed countries," said Giddens. "At the moment only a few countries, like Sweden, for example, donate the UN recommended percentage of their GDP to poor countries."

AGRICULTURE MARKETS

According to Giddens, the most important thing for developing countries at the moment is access to agriculture markets in industrialized nations. "World markets are hypocritical. The countries in the European Union have a common agriculture policy. The United States pays subsidies to its farmers. The agriculture market is not an open market," he declared.

"There is also the question of the balance of power in the world today. Lula is right in trying to get a greater role for Brazil in the United Nations," said Giddens.

As for the Third Way today, Giddens called it a "catch-all label, a broad-based idea that can be used as a starting point for discussions on the role of social democracy in the world now."

Giddens said Lula fits into Third Way theoretical thought because, "He is a social democrat who wants to help the poor and, at the same time, promote economic growth." (AB)