July 2003 A new balance with“Lula“? 8 th Congress of the Labor Union Federation CUT in Brazil Achim Wachendorfer, FES Uruguay At the 8 th Congress of the Brazilian Labor Union Federation“Central Única dos Trabalhadores“(CUT) the twenty-year jubilee of the organization was only a secondary item. The central issue of the Congress taking place in São Paulo from June 2 to 7 was the relationship between the largest labor union organization of Brazil and an Administration that has had, in several ways, an intimate bond with the CUT: the Nation‘s President Luiz Inácio„Lula“ da Silva did not only begin his political career as a labor unionist, but was also one of the founders of the CUT, in whose leadership he was a prominent figure during many years(together with 12 members of his cabinet). The Federation now faces the difficult task of distancing itself from its twenty-year-old habit of being in the opposition in order to find a new balance between, on one hand, the direct representation of its interests and, on the other, providing critical support to an Administration that has become a beacon of hope –not only in Brazil.