Fernando H. Cardoso

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The third way claimed a victory this week when former sociology professor Fernando Henrique Cardoso became the first Brazilian president to be democratically re-elected for a second term.

A former Marxist who once espoused the "dependency theory" that Latin America could not develop until it rejected capitalism, he recently invited Peter Mandelson to Brazil to lecture his Social Democratic Party on third way principles. He also wrote the introduction to a Portuguese version of Tony Blair's speeches, which Blair described as "straight down the line New Labour".

Born 67 years ago in Rio de Janeiro and educated at the universities of Sio Paulo and Paris, he has been described as "a tall, suave, telegenic, multilingual intellectual and author". Professor at the Latin American Institute of Economic and Social Planning in Santiago, Chile, in the 1960s, he then became a professor of sociological theory at the University of Paris, Nanterre in its heady 1967-68 era.

He has since taught at the universities of Sio Paulo, Stanford, Paris and California.

Fleeing Brazil's military regime in the 1970s, he also taught at Cambridge, where he became friendly with third way guru Anthony Giddens, now director of the London School of Economics.

In his first term as president he has implemented the biggest privatisation programme in the world, crafted Brazil's latest currency, the real, and launched an inquiry into Brazil's role as a Nazi haven.

While he has approved a law raising lecturers' salaries by 15 per cent, for his second term he is threatening sweeping budget cuts, tax rises and austerity measures.

Cultivated by leaders such as Blair and Bill Clinton, he invited criticism at home for focusing too hard on winning a second term. He had the law changed to allow him to run again and, in new Labour style, worked hard to enlist support from the media.