Brazil is "the land of the future," a wag said long ago, "and it always will be." Now, once again, the Latin American country whose territory is larger than that of the contiguous United States, with a population larger than that of Russia, is poised to become a major power. With the inauguration of Fernando Henrique Cardoso as president last month, Brazil at last seems close to reaching full-scale industrialization and a seat among the world's players.
The 1980s were the lost decade ...