Brazzil

US policy in our region, or lack of it, has been a very good thing for Brasil and other South American countries. It has forced us to "stand on our own feet" and to deversify our trade efforts and exports. The US has a right to a foriegn policy that protects it's own interests amd security, so where else whould they concentrate their efforts but on the Middle East? Can you blame them? Even a country like the US has limited resources. It is important to remember that it was not Brasilians who flew planes into the World Trade Center, we are not the enemy of the US, but as always, American's expect Brasil to look out for itself. And, we have started the process, new agreements and relationships with Asia, Russia, and other countries have insured our termendous growth in exorts, our products are being purcahsed as fast as we can make them. The only thing limiting more growth is capacity and infustructure...and the US continues to be an important trade partner. In case the author has not noticed, President Bush has called for an end for farm subsides in his new budget...the elimination of these would be the single most important thing the US could do to help Brasil in his next 4 years in office. As far as Columbia, we should applaud the US efforts there as well. Has anyone noticed that Brasil has quite the problem with drugs as well? Crime and addicition hold us back, makes our streets unsafe. Brasil does not produce drugs, so where in the hell do you think they are coming from? How do people that can not even write their names get automatic weapons? From the Columbian drug cartels of course. We need to take a common sense approach to our US relationship. The US is not our enemey. In fact it is us who can often be are own worse enemy. If we see sustained real growth in 2005, along with checked inflation, we should be OK, even if Lula is still the president!

Finally, an articulate well documented article which seems not so much an editorial opinion as a scholarly exposition. Same with the first response. So much discussion of world politics today seems so polarized by the kind of sad extremes reflected in U.S. politics.

I am not a supporter of President Bush, but I have come to the conclusion that, like it or not, the policies of his government reflect the attitudes of those who voted for him. That is a comfort to some, a terrifying thought to others.

With regards to Brasil, Bush's policies seem to be a very acurate reflection of the indifference towards or lack of knowledge of Brasil by the very vast majority of North Americans, most of whom (I suppose) could not identify Brasil on a map and believe all of South America speaks Spanish. Again, whatever people think about Brasil, that sad fact says more about the people of the U.S. than about Brasil.

One of the many paragraphs that struck me from this article was:
"Moreover, the kind of engagement envisioned by the second Bush administration espouses lofty principles but shows little commitment to grappling with the pressing problems that exist in the region."

I guess it is always been tempting to wave the flag and speak of the proverbial "motherhood and apple pie" without openning one's mind to learn about another person / country / issue. It feels to me like there is a lot of flag waving going on these days (perhaps understandable) which can easily turn patriotism into arrogance, a commitment to democracy into political and economic expansionism, and "dedication to liberty" into a pseudo-religious crusade. No wonder, then, that the rhetoic coming out of Washington may sound a bit ominous to some. A foreign policy can still be patriotic, commited to democracy, and dedicated to liberty. The arrogant, expansionistic, crusade mentality part is what is truly scary.

.... for those in power who want to exploit the average citizen. Freedom Sounds Ominous for those who work for the Brazilian government! They might actually have to work for a living.

Americas farm bill that subsidizes american farmers plus other estrictions and tarifs on brazilian goods is the only real problem brazil has with the united states. We should not nor do we expect the americans to fix or nations like the europeans did and are eternally endebted to the united states. Brazil only needs to produce, compete, diversify and get rid of a elephant state that keeps its citizens behind with its enormous taxes and endless buorocracy. Brazil is a new world, immigrant nation and hence will always be superior to europeans. We should also not be tied down with this mercosul agreement. We don´t need these other south american countries, they arew far behind and i for one do not feel i must pay for their development in any way. The euroPEONS will one day get rid of their protectionism and we will prosper even more. Yet the task now os do do our homework and weaken this brazilian state hence empowering brazilian citizens as individuals with rights and responsabilities.

America is not our enemy...unfortunatly, most of the time we are our worst enemy, but we spend so much time not taking responsibility for our actions or lack of actions, because it is easier to blame others. We should not wait or expect for anyone to come solve our problems for us...or continue to stand in line for rich country hand outs to the third world. Brasil's participation in the World Social Forum made me sick, we should be above attending, yet hosting an event of this nature. The previous poster is correct the state is an "elephant" that refuses to get offour chests.Unfortunatly, right now, we do not have the experience or education...or money necessary to make dramatic changes, the best we can hope for is incremental changes. The poster states "we will always be superior to Europeans", this is the typical nationistic talk and thoughts that prevent us from moving forward. Who cares who we are superior to? I don't. It makes no difference to me wether or not we are superior to Germany or Uganda, as long as I can raise my family, provide my kids a good education, and walk my neighborhood streets at night. I also disagree that a 'strong" Mercosul is not important, as the leader in the region, we have a responsibilty to insure our regions growth, which ultimitly benefits Brasil more than any other country...the one thing that the Lula governement might consdier a success, is to bring EU countries into Mercosul, which they are discussing now, this would also force the US to be more reasonable in their efforts with the Free Trade of the America's negotiation. Oh...and by the way, the Europeans will never stop protecting all of their markets, they were founded on sociaists principals, and they will die with socialist principals.

"Europeans will never stop protecting all of their markets, they were founded on sociaists principals, and they will die with socialist principals."

Exactly. This is why brazils natural ally is the united states, not europe, when it comes to fowarding free trade. Lula does the opposite, he ostrasizes the maericans and caters to the europeans and to these latin american countries like argentina who have long proved not to be worthy trade partners.

well written article about the evil and racist and coup supporting gringo republican blue eyed devils.

A for this well written article.

the gringos can go trade with the arctic ocean. with ignorant racists and white supremacists, like zoellick and others, there is no chance that the republican gringos will care for the campesinos.

rather the republican gringos represent the 21st century version of SS Stormtroopers, Gestapo, and Nazi Germany, with their policies of brutally supporting right wing oligarchies in latin america, coups in latin america, and evil overthrowing of left leaning governments, who support the campesinos and the people of the lands, like Salvador Allende (Chile), Arbenz (Guatemala), and others in Latin America.

Republican gringos are the modern day version of the devil.

great reading! (except the last hater, highly recognizable by the same wordage.) I thought the latest budget submitted this week does cut back on some of the subsidies. What will your Lula do if they actually do cut them back?

Terrif comments by most of the readers. At the exception of a pathetic comment in "theoretical" support of "campesinos, the other comments were intelligent and apt. At last paranoia is not rampant and realities have taken hold.

"Decades of experience have disproved the theorems that democracy and development flow naturally from the center to the periphery. The model is even more unlikely to apply to “freedom.” ???

OK, then Castro, Chavez, and Lula can prove Capitalism wrong...?

brazil is a giant country in a continent full of smallr countries

yet brazil is such a mediocre nation, that america has to come in and take the lead with the smaller spanish speaking countries
because brazil is too busy being poorer, and more messed up than its already messed up smaller neighbors

f**k brazil a filthy s**thole full of aids, and poor hookers!!!

i rather have america trading with europe, than with brazil, brazil is crap

I think the USA is better off dealing with spanish speaking countries, which are smaller, and with less isues than brazil

brazil is too big and too full of issues, is like the india of the americas.
i think it would a big burden to carry brazil into the NAFTA

i like the option of chile, it's a wealthy, educated, middle class country, which much more links with america than brazil, is also more developed, its economy is smaller but it's because chile is 10 times smaller than brazil, and about 10 times less people, but relatively speaking chile, and chileans in general are far wealthier, and chile is far more developed than brazil.

this was an interesting article and the comments with the exception of a few were interesting. i think brazil is doing the smart thing by becoming involved in european trade. it is just simple business logic. if you only have one trading partner that partner can exert a great deal of influence on your business. if you can sell to a wide variety of partners then you gain more power yourself. if one partner becomes too demanding you can at least count on other income until he comes to his senses and acts fairly again.
i think the best thing for all of south america and latin america is to actively pursue trade world wide.

First of all i don't think that Chavez is anticapitalist. i think the man realizes that his country has suffered institutionalized corruption at the highest levels of government for a great deal of it's history as has most of latin america. the poverty we see every where in this part of the world is a direct result of that. why should a nation not use revenues coming from national resources as a tide that lifts all ships? national resources belong to the citizens of that country. why should a select few be the only ones to benefit? as far as capitalism goes it is the only economic model that works. it is the only model that is fueled directly by peoples self interest and that is exactly why it is so successful. that it also exactly why it must be regulated. for a society to exist there must be laws that protect people from each other. a member of societies freedom should only extend to the point where he is not harming other people in that society. unregulated capitalism gives the super successful the power to seriously harm other members of society.