David Fleischer Emeritus Professor and former chair of the Department of Political Science and International Relations at the University of Brasilia, and Paulo Sotero Director of the Brazil Institute of the Woodrow Wilson Center and former Washington Correspondent for the Newspaper O Estado De Sao Paulo.

Brazil has just completed a national round of municipal elections. All signs point to the further consolidation of power by the wildly popular incumbent president, Luis Inacio Lula da Silva. This suggests that Lula's party is a good bet to retain the presidency in the elections scheduled for 2010. This success is due in large measure to the economic performance of the current government and the popular perception that Brazil is a coming world power. Paulo Sotero and David Fleischer explain.