Obama visits Brazil
Posted in Brazil Facts, Random Musings, Rio de Janeiro on 20. Mar, 2011
Hi all,
The big news here is that President Obama is in town.
He visited the capital of Brasília yesterday. Today he addressed an invitation-only group in the municipal theatre here in Rio and visited the statue of Christ the Redeemer which overlooks the city.
Here’s an excerpt from his talk at the theatre:
Obama speaks at Rio’s Teatro Municipal
Obama is well-liked in Brazil generally, as he is by people from all over. Here in Rio, you meet people from many countries, and basically everyone is just happy that Bush is no longer in office. People here overall believe, as I do, that Obama is an honest man trying to make some positive improvements, including improving foreign relations which were in shambles under “W”.
Here is a YouTube video from one typical Brazilian:
Although Obama is popular here, Brazilians are wary – as they should be. Obama is the president of the US, and therefore has to focus on what he can do for his own constituency. And one major goal at this time has to be to increase jobs. Obama would like to increase US exports to Brazil to increase US jobs.
Also high on the agenda is oil. Obama would like to foster friendlier relations with Brazil because of Brazil’s huge proven reserves of offshore petroleum and natural gas. As the US continues to consume much more petroleum than it produces, it desires more secure supplies than Venezuela and the Middle East.
And so Brazilians are wary. I heard discussions a few feet from me this morning as I did the crossword puzzle at the beach. Later, as I went to the market, I saw a demonstration at Praça do São Salvador. This same place where last week I met some locals and shared some beers was today the site a demonstration. Banners read: “Não á entrega do pré-sal. Obama, go home.” The first part of that message means “No to the delivery of the pre-salt.” (Pre-salt is the term used here to describe the petroleum reserves which lie under a cap of salt.) I think that the latter part of the banner is self-explanatory.
Brazil is finally taking its rightful place in the global economy and in global politics – Brazil is after all fully half of South America, whether measured by population, area, or economy – and while most Brazilians I’ve talked to consider Obama’s visit an honor, they want Brazil to exert its new-found power and prestige. And they are not going to be wowwed, and are not going to kowtow.
The US, while still the strongest single country in the world, is no longer has dominant as it once was. At the same time, the BRIC countries and others are very quickly rising.
It’s a brave new world. Brazilians recognize this. Obama I am sure does also.
I’m not so sure Joe Sixpack does.
More soon,
John
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Hey John – did you get a chance to attend the speech? I thought it was lame that he moved it from an open-air speech at Cinelandia station to a speech indoors at the Teatro Municipal. That was a pretty big fail, although his coming to Rio certainly was interesting in and of itself. If you have links to Globo coverage you should provide those as well! Any other word on the street as far as the general public’s reaction to his visit? Bye for now!
No, I couldn’t attend the speech. The original plan was for Obama to address the public at Cinelandia outdoors, but a change was made 1-2 days before to have the speech inside the Teatro Municipal to a list of invitees – and I didn’t make the cut! I found excerpts on YouTube. From what I can tell, nothing major was decided. It certainly would behoove the US to improve relations with Brazil. // As I said, Brazilians generally like Obama the man, but they are wary of US policies, and with some reason.