This article analyzes the political consequences of the general strategy that guided key federal human rights programs from 2003-2006. The first part of the text discusses issues considered to be central for a consideration of the trajectory of human rights in Brazil, beginning with the authoritarian regime (1964-1985). The objective is to locate the victories and defeats that marked attempts to affirm more advanced standards of promotion and protection of human rights in Brazilian society. The second portion analyzes the promotion of this agenda in the first government of President Luís Inácio Lula da Silva. The sources used were official government documents, texts organized by specific segments of civil society and academic articles. In conclusion, it presents the main impasses of this agenda and the criticisms of the economist visions that weaken the integrated concept of human rights that guide the essay.
Human rights; Democracy; Public policies; Lula government