ith the IMF. The budget targets made with the IMF were the good news, the bad news were the measures the president would take and enforce upon the country to reach the goals set by the IMF. The austerity measures translate to sweeping cuts in everything from education to health care, but the hardest hit and deepest cut was to agrarian reform and subsidies at nearly 50 percent (Maxwell 50). This has effectively cut any government support for agrarian reform and left the MST without governmental support, which, although generally lacking, was nonetheless better than no help at all. The increase in interest rates has left Brazilians without the power to make large purchases of items like cars and washing machines lowering the demand for these items and effectively lowering production and creating layoffs. Some economists say millions could lose their jobs and their homes (Epstein 2).The new generation of poor being created by the sweeping cuts and astronomical interest rates, coupled with growing political uncertainty, could inspire multitudes to join the already large numbers of the MST and force, by a large popular vote, land reform and a new era in land distribution and increased productivity and self sufficiency, helping to stimulate growth and eventually wrest power from the oligarchy back into the hands of the workers people.In a country where nearly half of the population survives on less than $2 a day, and the wealthiest 10 percent take about half the nation's income, a force as strong as the MST stands to gain on the heels of an economic disaster (Epstein 2). It is ironic that the Real Plan that carried Cardoso into the presidency and subsequent re-election could now be the greatest threat to his popularity, and indeed, to the country as a whole. The MST has an opportunity through crisis to increase its numbers, strengthen its voice and show the way of the workers as the way of the country. As Cardoso has come from a Marxi...
