|
 Ethanol will be high on Bush's agenda when he talks to Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, but in an interview with Juan Carlos Lopez from CNN in Spanish, the American president said that his discussion with Lula will not be limited to bioenergy.
"Brazil is a very important country in South America," he said. "We will be talking about the Doha round of global trade. I'll be talking with my friend, President Lula, about international matters. Brazil is an international player, and the United States looks forward to working with Brazil to promote peace."
Follows the CNN interview is its entirety:
Q Thank you for speaking with us. And my first question is about your trip. You're going to Latin America, the longest trip an American President has taken to the region. Why now? Why at this moment when Democrats control the Congress and there are issues that might be in their hands?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, thank you for asking that question. This is not my first trip since I've been the President. I have been in - traveling the neighborhood I think maybe three other times. But this is a long trip, and the reason why is I want to remind people throughout our neighborhood that America cares about them. And I bring a message of hope, a message that says we care about the human condition, and a message of accomplishment.
I don't know if you know this or not, but since I've been the President, our bilateral aid to Latin America has increased from US$ 800 million to US$ 1.6 billion. And the reason I say that is the American taxpayer has been very generous about providing aid in our neighborhood, and most of that aid is social justice money - in other words, it's money for education and health.
And yet, we don't get much credit for it. And I want the taxpayers, I want the American people to get credit for their generosity in Central and South America.
Q Your daughter, Jenna, is writing a book about her experiences in Central America. She will be focusing on a single mother with HIV. Has she been part of your eyes and ears in the region now that she's been there for quite a while?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, she is - first of all, I'm very proud of her. She is an accomplished woman. She came back - I haven't seen a lot of her because she's been spending a lot of time in Central America as a UNICEF volunteer - but she came back and talked to me about this young girl that she has befriended. And she's deeply concerned about alienationists in our world, and is going to try to raise some money to help the education programs there.
To me, her book and her example is what America is all about. We've got compassionate people, and when we find suffering and see income disparity, or see poverty, we'd like to help people lift themselves up.
Q You've talked about the importance of free trade. Opponents of free trade in Latin America say it's one sided and favors the U.S. Opponents of free trade in the U.S. say it's one sided and favors those countries. So who's right and what are you trying to do with this right now?
THE PRESIDENT: They're both wrong. The opponents of free trade are wrong, in my judgment, because free trade - a good free trade agreement - and those agreements are signed by administrations and ratified by their elected assemblies - fair trade agreements are beneficial to both, and that's what we want.
All you've got to do is look at the trade between the United States and Mexico after the free trade agreement we signed between Mexico, the United States, and Canada. And the amount of trade has gone up appreciably, significantly.
And I truly believe that one of the most effective ways to eliminate poverty is through free and fair trade. But there's no question there's protectionist sentiments in the neighborhood and in our own Congress. And I - we got the CAFTA vote by one vote in the House of Representatives, and I'm going to have to work hard to get more free trade agreements through. But the fact that it's hard won't deter me from doing what I think is right.
Q They say you're exporting American jobs.
THE PRESIDENT: Well, that's what Americans say. I look at it differently. I think what we're doing is we are creating opportunities for business people, small business people, to be able to sell products in other markets, whether it be U.S. products into Central America, or South America, and vice versa.
I also know that trade enhances the wealth of all people. I mean, it is in our interests that Mexico generate wealth so that people can make a living. If you're a person deeply concerned about immigration - and as you know, this is a hot issue here in the United States - doesn't it make sense to encourage trade so that people can find a job at home rather than feel compelled to try to find work elsewhere?
And trade is - you can track the success of a trade agreement, and I repeat again, the success of the trade agreement with Mexico.
Q Brazil, you're going. Ethanol seems to be at the top of the agenda. How important is this ethanol? Some analysts say that you will bring Brazil closer to the U.S., you will develop ethanol plants in Central America, and have ethanol for U.S. consumption.
THE PRESIDENT: First of all, the alternative fuel issue is a huge issue for the United States. We're too dependent on oil. It's in our national security interests, and our economic security interests, and for environmental concerns to develop alternatives to gasoline. Ethanol is the - is what we're investing a lot in here in the United States to do that. Brazil has been very successful, so it gives us common ground to talk.
I like the idea of helping Central America, by the way, develop an ethanol industry. I think it would be good for their national security and economic security interests. But my discussion with Brazil is more than just ethanol. Brazil is a very important country in South America. We will be talking about the Doha round of global trade. I'll be talking with my friend, President Lula, about international matters. Brazil is an international player, and the United States looks forward to working with Brazil to promote peace.
Q Are you - is free trade - is this trip a way to show what the U.S. is doing and counter what other leaders might be doing? For example, Hugo Chavez, who called you the devil, and says many things said he will be in Argentina on Friday.
THE PRESIDENT: The trip really is to remind people that we care. I do worry about the fact that some say, well, the United States hasn't paid enough attention to us, or the United States really isn't anything more than worried about terrorism. And when, in fact, the record has been a strong record.
And I will be going to promote - to look at programs that are - have benefited from the generosity of the American people. And so it's - I say, our country is a compassionate country. And there's significant connections between people inside America and people outside America. And it's in our interest that we promote those ties, and we promote - and I remind people about the generosity of our country.
It's not a given, by the way, that people will continue to spend - that the Congress will spend money. And, therefore, it's important for me to show that we're not only spending money, but the effects of spending money, the positive things that are happening as we help elevate people's lives.
Q Mr. President, I want to ask you about he conviction of Lewis "Scooter" Libby. Your critics are saying that his conviction makes the promise that you made to bring honor and dignity back to the White House, that this promise will go unmet.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, first of all, this was a lengthy trial on a serious matter, and a jury of his peers convicted him. And we've got to respect that conviction.
Secondly, this is an ongoing legal matter. In other words, there's more legal procedures to take place, and at this time, it's inappropriate for me, or the administration, to be issuing comments about this serious matter.
On a personal note, I was sad. I was sad for a man who had worked in my administration, and particularly sad for his family.
Q As Commander-in-Chief, what do you say to the veterans who have gone through a very hard time at Walter Reed and other hospitals? There are commissions, there are solutions that are being proposed. What do you, as Commander-in-Chief, say to those veterans -
THE PRESIDENT: I say, anything other than excellent care is unacceptable. And I've been to Walter Reed a lot. There are some fantastic doctors and nurses and healers. And yet, we found that there were was some substandard care in part of that organization, and we're going to correct it.
And I put the commission together - a series of commissions, to make sure that there - that we fully understand the truth, fully elevate the problems, so we can solve them.
I had Bob Dole and Donna Shalala in today. They're chairmen of this very important commission I put together that will analyze the care our soldiers get from the battlefield into the Defense Department, then into the Veterans, and then into community. And I want to make sure there is - that is a seamless transition of excellent care.
Q Muchas gracias, Señor Presidente.
 |
Subscribe to this comment's feed
Brazil received a huge boost in its international image with its selection as the host of the 2016 Olympics, but it was really just the cherry on top of the overall recognition of the country's ascension to the ranks of one of the world's most important countries. Now, as it finally takes its place on the world scene, there has been a great deal of concern about what kind of image Brazil hopes to project, now that the world is really paying attention. 
The only good thing to say about the visit to Brazil of Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, on Monday November 23, is that it was mercifully short and lasted less than 24 hours. Ahmadinejad had his picture taken being hugged by president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva who gave him a warm welcome and said Iran had every right to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. 
The small, coastal town of Condé is located just a twenty minute's drive from João Pessoa, the capital of Paraíba. The Northeast of Brazil has historically been a place of encounter and mixing between peoples. For millenia groups of indigenous people fished, farmed, migrated and sometimes fought along this large, fertile area. 
The Brazilian diplo-MÁ-cia (bad diplomacy) carries on its accelerated course towards the non-acknowledgment of human rights, although sometimes it takes pleasure in saying that it does precisely the opposite. The visit of Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is another example of a diplomatic omission that verges on hypocrisy. 
On July 4, 2006, representatives of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay met in Caracas to sign the protocol for the entrance of Venezuela into the Southern Common Market (Mercosur). After two and a half years, the protocol was approved by the legislative bodies of Argentina and Uruguay, and as of now it may be only days away from being ratified by the continent's economic megalith, Brazil. 
Some sectors of the fight against AIDS have suggested that Thabo Mbeki, the former president of South Africa, committed genocide through his absence from the fight against the illness in his country throughout his two terms. 
One hundred and eleven years after Brazil abolished slavery, the number of workers deprived of their freedom is still huge. They raise cattle, produce charcoal, sugar cane or timber. Some of them, most undocumented Bolivians, work in basements of small apparel factories in São Paulo and other metropolis. 
On November 7, 2009 a few friends and I had an opportunity to take a look inside a Brazilian jail outside the city of Rio de Janeiro. We were able to take some amateur footage of our experience on video (see link below). It's no surprise, of course, that the typical Brazilian jail lacks some of the functionality of those in North America or Europe, but our experience that day was quite shocking. 
Depletion of the Amazon Rainforest is not a new concern facing environmentalists, biologists, ecologists, and a growing number of the Amazonian indigenous peoples. For decades they have feared for the fate of the world's most biologically diverse and species-rich hothouse. 
Geisy Arruda made history this week in Brazil, but for all the wrong reasons. What began as a poorly planned fashion statement has become a worldwide tale. Geisy decided to wear a pink mini-dress to her private college in São Paulo state, and after that, all hell broke loose.