What a way to spoil a Sunday evening.  I just got word that Brazil wants to continue living in the past:

"The BBC's Wyre Davies in Rio de Janeiro says it was the tightest of contests, but in electing Dilma Rousseff, Brazilians had opted for continuity and backed a system and party that has brought economic growth and generous welfare programmes.

But, he continues, Brazil looks and feels divided - whereas Dilma Rousseff did well in the poorer northern states, her opponent took many of the wealthier and more developed southern parts of Brazil.

Aecio Neves, of the Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB), was the governor of the southern swing-state of Minas Gerais for eight years.

Correspondents say wealthy Brazilians were more likely to back Mr Neves, who had vowed to put the economy back on track after four years of low growth rates with the country now technically in recession.

The election campaign has been marked by aggressive accusations on both sides, a rivalry that reached part of the electorate, with nasty disputes proliferating on social media, says the BBC's Julia Dias Carneiro in Rio de Janeiro."

Again, this is a bitterly divided country.   

Can reelected President Dilma Rouseff make this work?  

Let's hope so but I am not optimistic.   

As a Brazilian friend told me last week, we are two countries, or one half that works and the other half is dependent on government.   My friend is not optimistic about his country either.

Like Argentina a hundred years ago, a country that was once projected to be a great superpower, Brazil will continue to be that country with great potential that never quite makes it.  Unfortunately, just a bit over half of its citizens continue to vote for those who tell them what they want to hear and keep the dependency going.  They win elections but the country will never be great with this kind of leadership.

P. S. You can hear CANTO TALK here & follow me on Twitter @ scantojr.