by FABIOLA ORTIZ
President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, and daughters Sasha and Malia are greeted by Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff and Foreign Minister Antonio Patriota, right, upon their arrival at the Palacio do Alvorada in Brasilia, Brazil, March 19, 2011. PHOTO/Pete Souza/White House
RIO DE JANEIRO, Mar 21, 2011 (IPS) – The first black president of the United States visited the first woman president of Brazil: their meeting resulted in modest progress in bilateral relations, but a bitter taste could not be avoided over the announcement, in Brazil, of the U.S.-led air attack on Libya.
On Saturday, Obama announced in Brasilia the launch of air strikes against the Libyan regime, in line with the Mar. 17 United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973, which ordered Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to call a ceasefire against rebels demanding his resignation, and authorised the use of force to impose a no-fly zone over the country.
Brazil, currently a non-permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, had opposed the military measures and was one of five Council members to abstain from voting.
Together with other emerging powers, Brazil has long demanded reform of the Security Council, the U.N.’s most powerful political body for international peace and security – and has made it clear it wants a permanent seat.
In a speech in Brasilia, Rousseff advocated Security Council reform, but refrained from mentioning the case of Libya.
“We are concerned by the slow pace of reforms of multilateral institutions that still reflect an old world order,” Rousseff said. “We are working tirelessly to reform governance of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. We are also advocating fundamental reform in global governance, via the enhancement of the U.N. Security Council.”
Obama replied, “The United States will continue our efforts to make sure that the new realities of the 21st century are reflected in international institutions, including the United Nations, where Brazil aspires to a seat on the Security Council.”
Former diplomat Marcos de Azambuja, with the Brazilian Centre for International Relations (CEBRI), told IPS that on bilateral issues, “for the first time Brazil was not lectured on human rights or democracy; on the contrary, it was President Dilma who made demands of the United States,”
But Brazil is still an emerging country, he noted, adding that equality is achieved by “mutual respect and the absence of resentment.”
China recently displaced the United States as this country’s largest trading partner.
Obama expressed his country’s desire to become a major importer of oil from Brazil’s vast “pre-salt” oilfields.
Inter Press Services for more