[Cincinatus' Wife]

U.S. Brazil watchers doubt leftist candidate will win*** Despite the latest polls showing that Brazil's leftist candidate Luiz Inacio ''Lula'' da Silva is widening his lead for the October presidential elections, the majority view in U.S. business and diplomatic circles is that he will not win and that predictions of a dramatic shift to the left in Latin America's biggest country are premature. Is it wishful thinking on the part of Wall Street economists who fear a massive economic downturn for Brazil if da Silva's Workers Party wins the election? Or is da Silva, who has already failed in three previous runs for the presidency, incapable of surpassing the threshold of the estimated 35 percent of Brazilians who traditionally vote for the left?***

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Venezuela Business Leader who replaced Chávez denies prior U.S. contacts *** To another question about who wrote the controversial April 12 decree that dissolved all public powers, he replied that it was penned ``by a wide group of jurists.''

His refusal to name names prompted angry outbursts from assembly members. ''The witness has been evading all the questions. It would seem that he is covering up,'' Assemblyman Tarek William Saab said.

''I will not compromise any political party or individual,'' Carmona said. ``No one forced me to name any particular person to a post, I was not compromised by anyone. My only commitment is to my conscience.''

The 60-year-old former chemical company executive said that he did not have a close relationship with Isaac Pérez Recao, a 32-year-old arms dealer who local press accounts have identified as a mover behind the coup and transition government.

''There is no relationship, neither of work, or of dependency nor a close friendship that could have existed beforehand,'' Carmona testified.

Pérez Recao, whose family owns 4.3 percent of the stock of Carmonas former employer Industrias Venoco, is believed to be lying low in Miami. A raid on his home last week revealed an arsenal of weapons and identification cards enabling him to enter Miraflores Palace during the dates of the transition government.***