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From issue: Memos to the President Elect (Fall 2008)

AQ Feature

Ignore the Has-Beens, Look to Brazil

by

 Jorge “Tuto” Quiroga

"Perhaps you can channel Presidents Kennedy and Reagan as they stood next to another wall and issue your own declaration: 'Ich bin ein Americano: I will tear down this wall along the Rio Grande."

What a paradox! Never has the Hispanic vote been more influential in a U.S. election than in 2008—and never has the U.S. had less regional influence than today. That said, 200 years of history and a rising regional power (Brazil) present you, Mr. President-elect, with a unique opportunity to build a new relationship of solidarity with the region on everything from energy, aid and commerce, to security and migration.

Until five years ago, the U.S. president was the most important person on the planet for Latin America—the leader of our region’s most important investor, market and lender. Remember the IMF-World Bank-IDB packages arranged by your Treasury to rescue Brazil in 1999 and 2003 and Argentina so many times? Remember the $50 billion package for Mexico in 1994? Remember the smaller countries in need of support and debt relief that required the White House’s green light? Remember all the nations queuing up to follow Mexico into the North American market? The requests for bilateral investment treaties and OPIC guarantees?

Well, those days are long gone…

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Obama has the chance to build strong relationships

Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 08/28/2009 - 04:10.

As the article points out, Obama has the chance to build strong relationships with Brazil. In fact, with the level of support Obama has managed to maintain around the world since becoming President he has the opportunity to do a lot of relationship building between the US and other countries - let's hope he makes the best of this chance.

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Fantastic article, Brazil’s

Submitted by Anonymous on Sat, 07/11/2009 - 02:30.

Fantastic article, Brazil’s foreign policy is officially delegated to Foreign Minister, Celsom Amorim, and Lula’s Foreign Affairs adviser, Professor Marco Aurelio Garcia, who has been a foreign policy adviser with the Workers Party for well over a decade. Nice post

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Re:

Submitted by brady12 on Tue, 02/17/2009 - 00:33.

A source of mine in Brasilia, and someone close to the maneuvering of politics within the Brazilian Congress and Lula’s administration, recently made an interesting comment.

Lula, he says, becomes quite upset at the lack of coordination between the various cabinet-level politicians who operate a specific segment of Brazil’s foreign policy.

Brazil’s foreign policy is officially delegated to Foreign Minister, Celsom Amorim, and Lula’s Foreign Affairs adviser, Professor Marco Aurelio Garcia, who has been a foreign policy adviser with the Workers Party (PT) for well over a decade.

Professor Marco represents the PT’s hard left, based on ideology from the party’s socialist position formed in the 1960s. His position contrasts somewhat with the relatively more moderate position taken by the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, aka Itamaraty, and under Amorim’s charge.

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