President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva likes to improvise his speeches. It is part of what made him one of the most magnetic orators in modern Brazilian politics. It is also a reliable source of unintended consequences.
One came last Friday, when Lula toured a plant owned by the defense contractor Avibras in Jacareí, São Paulo State. Making the case for higher military spending, he pressed an open wound in Paraguay, a Mercosur partner and a co-owner of the Itaipu Dam with Brazil.
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