The future of Brazil as an emerging power is closely linked to the regional situation. This according to Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's international affairs advisor, Marco Aurélio Garcia.
"We believe the destiny of Brazil is closely linked to the destiny of the region where we still have a complicated problem, which is too many poor people and a very unequal distribution," said Garcia, who is a history academic and has represented President Lula in several regional conflicts.
Garcia said that Lula's foreign policy towards Latin America has been above all to defend national interests but also "pursue with great insistence regional integration."
"Which has been the intelligence of President Lula?" asks Garcia. He's not a great theory man, but "he understood that Latin America has deep differences and he has worked hard to establish a good relation with all countries and insisted that we must see beyond our differences."
In this line of thinking Garcia said it would be good if the new United States administration understood the signals from Latin American countries, of all political sensitivities, that consider "dialogue with Cuba as most important for the region."
Garcia added the issue would probably crop up during the Americas Summit in Trinidad Tobago, on April 17, 19, even when it's not one of the main points of the agenda.
"The issue of Cuba is going to emerge because there's a general feeling in Latinamerica that the embargo at this stage is senseless; it belongs to the Cold War agenda."
"In Brazil we believe that normalization of relations with Cuba would have an extraordinary effect on the image of the United States. Even when the first steps must be unilateral, with no conditions or strings," insisted Garcia.
Lula's advisor said that if necessary Brazil could act as a mediator, as long as both sides so request it, "which has not happened."
Nevertheless the main issue at the Americas summit, which will be attended by US president Barack Obama, is the crisis, said Garcia. "There are some countries in the area that are suffering particularly hard because of the dramatic fall in US imports and remittances."
Regarding Brazilian relations with Ecuador and Bolivia, Garcia said those differences "have been solved in an amicable way" and hopefully with Paraguay and "a civilized dialogue we will reach an acceptable consensus."
Ecuador and Bolivia nationalized Brazilian corporations assets and Paraguay is demanding a fair price for the electricity generated by the shared Itaipu dam, South America's largest.
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written by Alice in Wonderland, March 26, 2009
"The issue of Cuba is going to emerge because there's a general feeling in Latinamerica that the embargo at this stage is senseless; it belongs to the Cold War agenda."
What this has to do with poverty in the rest of LA is a mystery to me, but it does highlight the mental disconnect politicians in the region suffer from. They'll never solve the mephitic problems at their own doorstep if they're constantly sidetracked and focused on unkempt nature of their neighbor's lawn.
written by forrest allen brown, March 26, 2009
CUBA has better schools , health care ,less crime , less drug gangs
than any country in LA .
Its the cubans themselves that need to tell there familes in the states stop
the embargo , not lula ,chaves or morlas .
while to me it is a dumb way to kill the people of a country
as the uper class leaders have no fear and dont want for nothing
and control all the money and people
written by JG, March 26, 2009
no other country in the region will pay attention to his bs... some regions of Brasil are so poor that you wonder if Lula ever
gets to it. Because Brazil is so big... maybe he thinks those areas are in another country and that is what is pulling Brasil down...
don't blame others...
written by João da Silva, March 26, 2009
http://www.newsweek.com/id/190352
Hope Augustus sees this message and accesses this link. He may like to express his opinion too.
written by VinnyCarioca, March 26, 2009
Zakarias: He has gangs out on the street. This is not real democracy.
Lula: Look, we have to respect the local cultures, the political traditions of each country.
When I went to N.Y. a few months ago, my wife and I enjoyed the thriving Brazilian community in the city where I grew up. The Brazilians loved it there even though I wouldn't ever move back (for weather reasons). The thing that they loved the most about the U.S.A. is that 'life is normal here'.
I read how Lula, Chavez, Morales, Ortega, Castro, et al constantly castigate the United States on the Cuban embargo while making utterly ridiculous statements (like the one above) along the way.
In this line of thinking Garcia said it would be good if the new United States administration understood the signals from Latin American countries, of all political sensitivities, that consider "dialogue with Cuba as most important for the region."And this has anything to do with poverty in Latin America?
"In Brazil we believe that normalization of relations with Cuba would have an extraordinary effect on the image of the United States. Even when the first steps must be unilateral, with no conditions or strings," insisted Garcia.
If the political traditions are to be respected, then respect the fact that the Obama administration isn't foolish enough to lose carte blanche with a controlling Democratic congress in 2010 over the Cuba issue. In the aggregate, Cuba is small potatos.
As far as improving the image of the U.S., President Obama's recent olive branch to the Iranians wasn't received to well by their supreme ruler. With the exception of China, The U.S. doesn't seem to mix well the totalitarianism.
"There are some countries in the area that are suffering particularly hard because of the dramatic fall in US imports and remittances."
Remittances= illegal immigration. This situation is only going to multiply because of the impending military presence on the southern U.S. border. There is a very real fear that the Mexican government is on the brink of collapse because of the ongoing drug war and its spread into the U.S. (murders and kidnappings). Also, the troops will have to intercept the massive wave of refugees that are expected to flood the U.S..
In addition to that, Americans are actually taking jobs that were, not too long ago, deemed "jobs Americans won't do" .
written by Alice in Wonderland, March 26, 2009
“Não podemos permitir que os pobres paguem por uma crise feita por ricos, sobretudo porque ela não foi gerada por nenhum negro, índio ou pobre. Essa crise foi feita por gente branca, de olhos azuis que antes da crise sabiam tudo e, agora, não sabem de nada”, salientou Lula.
Tell that to THESE men....
Maybe in Brazil blacks aren't allowed to rise to the level of the greedy elite, but they do succeed elsewhere. Someone should tell this buffoon of a President before he opens up his mouth again and embarrasses not only himself but his nation further.
written by João da Silva, March 26, 2009
“Não podemos permitir que os pobres paguem por uma crise feita por ricos, sobretudo porque ela não foi gerada por nenhum negro, índio ou pobre. Essa crise foi feita por gente branca, de olhos azuis que antes da crise sabiam tudo e, agora, não sabem de nada”, salientou Lula.
How the heck did I miss this ? Must be getting old.
written by João da Silva, March 26, 2009
http://www.estadao.com.br/noti...5255,0.htm
This statement was made during the visit of the Gordon Brown. Hope Brown didn't get offended (and I don't mean Forrest Brown).
these latin american leaders should work on changing those anti castro cubans minds if they really want the usa to stop the embargo