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“CHANGE”was the motto of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva during his first term as Brazil's president.Theformer trade-union leader did a better job of governing Brazil replica watcheson behalf of its poorest citizens than ofcleaning up corruption,as he promised.On being sworn in for a second term on January 1st,Lula optedfor multiple mantras including“growth”,“inclusion”and“unblocking”.The economy grew by an annualaverage of just 2.6%during his four-year term in office while the rest of the world grew by 4.8%.Lulanow wants to lift Brazil's rate to 5%.Despite slow growth,Lula's boast that his second term is beginning with the most“favourable andauspicious”conditions in history is not a wild exaggeration.Inflation was just 3%last year and isexpected to remain subdued in 2007.discount cellphoneInterest rates,though still far too high,are falling.With a tradesurplus of$46 billion and foreign-exchange reserves nearly double that,the economy looks safe fromforeign shocks.Growth ought to speed up to 3.5-4%this year,thanks in part to the lagged effect oflower interest rates.Crime and Brazil's bad schools are among the shadows that darken this picture.This week an elitefederal police force was sent to Rio de Janeiro to restore order after a wave of drug gang attacks left 19people dead,including seven burnt to death on a bus.Seven months ago prison-based gangs inflictedsimilar violence and even greater carnage on S?o Paulo.“Terrorism”will be fought“with the strong armof the state”,Lula pledged.For a second-term president,he is in a strong position to take action.Lula won 61%of the valid votes inthe second round of theMen's Clothing presidential election on October 29th and his popularity has since climbed to anastonishing 71%.At least eight parties are expected to join his coalition,giving the government acomfortable majority in the lower house of Congress and a slim one in the Senate.The main worriestherefore have to do with Lula's own performance and that of his government.“Everything indicatesthere will be no qualitative leap in the second term,”says David Fleischer,a political scientist at theUniversity of Brasília.