OPPOSITION LAWMAKER TAVARES AND SUPPORTERS AT CONGRESS IN BRASILIA, 1999-01-20 (photo)

Opposition lawmaker Maria da Conceicao Tavares of the Workers Party (PT) (C) is surrounded by supporters as she arrives outside the lower house of Congress prior to voting on a controversial pension reform bill in Brasilia January 20. Markets around the world braced for the critical pension reform vote that the government must win to stem a crisis which threatens to hurt the world economy. This year, the federal government will spend more than $15 billion on pensions and benefits, but will only collect about one-seventh of that in contributions, making the civil service pension system one of the biggest drains on public accounts. GN/AA