A "Brazil of hope " is a strange and serious occurrence. First Lula, President of the Republic, received the leaders of the Landless Workers Movement (MST) with euphoria – it looked like the times when Lula was a candidate – and later sent his ministers and the leaders to the National Congress to provide explanations as to why, during the audience, he (President of the Republic) put an MST cap on his head. What is the reason for such a turn of events? Why should a democratic government of the people have to justify, through the media, the reasons for holding an audience with the leaders of the main organized movement in Brazil? Why should Lula and his government be put under such pressure? There are reasons for this: political and financial ones and others of a shadowy nature: namely, Lula's government is being held hostage by the National Confederation of Agriculture (CNA), by the parties of the extreme right and by the landowners. Because of this the shock troops of Planalto approached the media to explain the reasons for the audience and its folklorization. The reasons of a political nature are easily explained: Lula's support group is for the most part dominated by regional oligarchies, which hate the idea of bringing agrarian reform to Brazil and which therefore blackmail the government by conditioning their support or votes on the so-called reforms, to the President's acquiescence to their regional interests. The economic reasons are explained by the argument that the land is private property and productive, and generates wealth for the country and strengthens exports. In order that everyone will be convinced of this, the Television Network O Globo produces special programs declaring that during the last year agricultural production has reached record levels in our country. Why implement agrarian reform if the latifundios are producing a surplus and if Brazil is the largest grain exporter in the world? What is more, there is the argument of property rights and that property can be defended, even with military force, primarily against the MST squatters who, as the media in support of Lula claim, "do not want land and many have never been farmers. They are summoned by the leaders of the Movement in the outskirts of the towns, with promises of being given land and employment, and in exchange they must set up camps along the roadsides to create disorder. Therefore, the objective is not one of agrarian reform, but is political and about shadowy interests". The reasons that are of a shadowy nature will be revealed when the federal government stops being submissive to the big landowners, when it revokes Provisional Measure 2183/56 from 24-08-2002, when it orders the arrest of the landowners and their gunmen who illegally carry arms, including the kind destined to exclusive use of the Armed Forces, threatening the rural landless workers and instigating violence, and when, with a government program, it puts the idea of agrarian reform into practice. In the inappropriate manner in which they have folklorized and highlighted the use of the red cap during Lula's meeting with the MST, a mere sophism, the media and the elite are creating an apparent division between the government and the elite, when in reality the act allowed the MST to initiate delayed discussions about the need for this government to implement a policy for agrarian reform, and it allowed the government to advise the Movement that "I am your friend, be patient! Brazil cannot be changed overnight, we cannot be overly flamboyant", that is to say that the government wants an end to the "invasions" and the MST is not allowed to compromise relations between Lula's government and the oligarchies. For its part, the MST says that it believes in the government and, therefore, that it must put into practice what it promised when they were friends. The elite, backed by the media, wants the government to continue to ignore the subject of agrarian reform. Consequently, the red cap is scarcely a smokescreen or pure marketing ploy and behind it are the signs of negotiations about the government's actions being carried out with the power elite. In other words the cap does not represent the people inside the palace, nor the people in government. For Lula the cap may be nostalgic, but not the ideological reference that many predicted. It suffices to follow the relations already established, by this government with the parties in the National Congress and, in terms of the economy, with the international bankers and the International Monetary Fund, IMF. For relaxation, however, there is always the Sunday football at the Granja del Torto. It is there that the media display a satisfied President of the Republic, resembling the people, resembling a retired worker. Unfortunately, while "the ball is victim to the bald patches" of the executives of Planalto, the people are victims of the games of power, with one big difference, they are played every day.* (Translation by ALAI) * Roberto Antonio Liebgott is a member of Cimi Sul. * A reference to the football the MST gave to the President saying that he is "part of our team".