A s Brazil heads into the second round of its presidential election, history looks to be in the making. For the first time since their country became a republic, the Brazilian people appear set to elect a working-class man as president. Although the front-runner, Mr. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, has promised to moderate his leftist inclinations, international financial markets are nervous. Brazil's economy is fragile: The next president, no matter who he is, will need the confidence and support of the markets as he formulates policies that benefit the Brazilian people.

Mr. Da Silva's victory would mark the first leftist government elected since Brazil became a republic in 1889 and the first in power since Joao Goulart claimed the presidency in 1961. Since democracy was restored to Brazil in 1985, the country has been ruled by right-center governments. Mr. Da Silva, a former metalworker who lost a finger to a lathe and who speaks with a lisp, has contested the presidency four times. Voters have been suspicious of his leftist inclinations: He never polled more than a quarter of the first-round vote in previous elections.

Cognizant of those difficulties, Mr. Da Silva and his Workers' Party reworked their image, jettisoning some of the ideology of the left. Mr. Da Silva says he will not repudiate the country's debt or the agreement reached with the International Monetary Fund that allowed the institution to provide $30 billion in relief for the Brazilian economy. He has also softened his union-leader rhetoric, saying he will now negotiate with, rather than dictate to, his opponents. There is some proof that the changes are more than cosmetic: Mr. Da Silva forged an electoral alliance with the Liberal Party, a conservative group, and convinced its leader to be his running mate.