Latin America Bureau Short Books – serie

Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (Lula) became Latin America's first democratically elected socialist leaders since Salvador Allende on October 27, 2002. He achieved nearly 62 per cent of the vote, to become the first left-wing politician to win his country's presidency. But behind this victory for Lula and his Workers' party (Partido dos Trabalhadores, or PT) is a long and difficult struggle for ascendancy which began in the early 1980s. Written by a Brazilian academic and a British journalist who have long associations with the PT, this book tells the story of the PT's origins and electoral history, outlining the key politicians behind it, as well as their four subsequent tries for power.

In this book, "Irish Times" and "Guardian" journalist Michael McCaughan investigates not only the rise of the charismatic former army office, but also the deep division in Venezuela, and examines the conundrum of Chavez' Venezuela and its place within the hemispheric interests of George Bush's Imperium.

With the sudden flight of its decade-long dictator Alberto Fujimori in 2001 and the apprehension of his eminence grise Vladimiro Montesinos, Peru has in recent years experienced one of the most dramatic turnarounds of any Latin American country. Picking Up the Pieces: Corruption and Democracy in Peru looks at how Peruvians have reconstituted democracy in their country after a decade of the most mysterious and secretive political regimes ever to rule in the region.In the wake of the 2006 elections, which returned former president Alan Garcia to power, this work examines the role of multinationals, the judiciary, civil society and new political movements to show how Peru is reconstituting itself out of the vacuum left by flagrant corruption and authoritarianism. A concise examination and powerful indictment of corruption in Latin America as a whole, Picking Up the Pieces is also a definitive book on contemporary Peruvian politics.