Here is an overview of Brazil, one of the countries in the Group of 20 attending the economic group's upcoming Pittsburgh summit.

Brazil's charismatic president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, will head up a delegation that includes foreign minister Celso Amorim and finance minister Guido Mantega. Lula, as he is known, is a former steelworker, a union leader and a longtime hero to Brazil's poor. In 2002, he became the first president ever elected from the left-wing Workers Party. He surprised many critics -- and disappointed some allies -- by striking a moderate economic path and keeping Brazil's burgeoning economy on track, and positioned his policies as a moderate alternative to those of Venezuela's Hugo Chavez and Bolivia's Evo Morales. During his two terms in office, the middle class has grown and many families have escaped extreme poverty through an expansion of the Bolsa Familia program, through which the government makes small monthly payments to the poorest Brazilians. Despite some stumbles, Lula has had such high approval ratings that U.S. President Barack Obama recently called him "the most popular politician in the world." On the diplomatic front, he has tried to employ his personal charm (and Brazil's peace-loving reputation) to maintain relationships with disparate leaders (from Mr. Obama to Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad) and position Brazil as regional power and international mediator. His second and final term ends next year, under Brazil's term limits law.

According to Mr. Mantega, the finance minister, Brazil was the "last country to enter the crisis, and the first to come out of it." That may be hyperbole -- or at least highly debatable -- but no one doubts that the country weathered the world financial meltdown pretty well, with a few bumps and bruises and a relatively small two-quarter recession. Lula's government took several measures to fight the downturn that were widely considered effective. Aside from increased government spending, they included a sharp cut in the Central Bank's benchmark interest rate (from 13.75 percent in December 2008 to 8.75 percent today), and targeted reductions of taxes on products like automobiles and washing machines.

The Brazilian economy is the giant of Latin America and the 10th biggest in the world, with a gross domestic product of just under $1.6 trillion, according to the International Monetary Fund. It is, in many ways, a 21st century success story: an exporter of commodities like soybeans and iron ore with trading partners around the world, but also a major automobile producer for domestic and Latin American consumption, and home to Embraer, one of the world's major aerospace companies. The huge (190 million-person) internal market -- and the growing middle class within it -- makes the economy less vulnerable to external shocks in pricing or demand. The most visible symbol of its success was its inclusion along with Russia, India and China as a "BRIC" country, a term coined by Goldman Sachs to group together fast-growing economies that could by mid-century outweigh the world's traditional economic leaders.

Brazil is also on the verge of becoming a major oil producer, as it invests heavily in extracting petroleum from recently discovered (and deeply buried) offshore reserves. It is, however, still a nation deeply divided by income inequality. Socioeconomic mobility has improved but remains hindered by several daunting barriers, most notably an inadequate public school system.

In early August, the Brazilian finance minister announced during a visit to Washington that he would push for stricter regulations of international financial markets, especially in derivatives, to avoid future crises. Brazil has ground to stand on in this regard: Many economists believe its strict regulation of domestic financial markets played a role in staving off the same degree of economic collapse that ravaged countries like the United States. A spokesman for the president confirmed recently that pushing for greater regulation remains a goal for the Brazilian delegation in Pittsburgh. It will also continue to push for stronger representation and more voting power for developing nations in international institutions like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Lula will also try to draw attention to the impact the recent financial crisis had on lesser-developed countries, especially those whose voices may not have been heard on the world stage.

Months of ethics scandals in the Brazilian Senate and the fast approaching 2010 presidential election form the political backdrop for Lula's trip to the G-20. Though the official campaign doesn't start until next year, Lula has already been throwing immense political capital behind his chosen successor (and current chief of staff), Dilma Rousseff. That has included taking a calculated political risk by standing behind the man at the center of the scandals, Senate president Jose Sarney. Lula apparently has decided that support from Mr. Sarney, a former president, head of a powerful political family and a powerful leader in the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party, is an ingredient necessary to Mr. Dilma's eventual victory.