Obama's "Lost Opportunity": Not Giving Explicit Support to Brazil, Amorim Says

U.S. President Barack Obama “has lost a great opportunity” in his visit to Brazil by failing to explicitly support the country’s admission to the U.N. Security Council, in the opinion of Ambassador Celso Amorim, a former foreign minister of Brazil.

“He would have created a more solid alliance and that would have contributed to a relationship of deep trust,” Amorim told the BBC Brazil, saying that now “everything will remain as it was.”

To Amorim, if the United States is concerned about the growing presence of China’s trade in Brazil, the country must take concrete steps to open its market to Brazilian products — like ethanol — and reduce the trade imbalance in bilateral relations.

“This is how you neutralize the influence of others,” said Amorim. “Brazil has the largest trade surplus with China. The biggest trade deficit is with the United States.”

Foreign Minister during the eight years of President Lula, Amorim received the BBC in his apartment in Copacabana, Avenida Atlantica, where he has organized his books, ties and collection of artwork and sculptures from several countries that he has accumulated during his diplomatic career.

He now divides his time between Rio de Janeiro, Brasilia and international invitations he receives, such as the one that will take him to Washington on Friday for a lecture.

The ambassador says he is very pleased “to have been minister of a government that transformed Brazil” and has been receiving invitations “to speak at Harvard or speak at UNE (National Union of Students).” “I intend to attend both,” says the ambassador.

Read below the main parts of the interview.

BBC Brazil: You wrote an article for Foreign Policy magazine before Obama’s visit saying it would be a disappointment if he did not use the opportunity to concretely support the entry of Brazil into the UN Security Council. He came and expressed “appreciation” for the election of Brazil. Are you disappointed?

Celso Amorim: I think that Brazilian democracy has done what it could. I do not even know if I would have accomplished so much. Condoleezza (Rice, Secretary of State during the George W. Bush administration) talked to me several times about it, but it was never part of a joint statement. This is progress.

Now, when comparing with what Americans did to India, of course it’s disappointing. What is the signal that the U.S. is giving? What is the fundamental difference between India and Brazil?

India is more populous than Brazil, but Brazil has three times the territory if India. Both are stable democracies with regional influence. The fundamental difference is that India has the atomic bomb and Brazil has not. How can you be both in favor of non-proliferation (of nuclear weapons), and in the case of two countries that are reasonably comparable, supporting one country and not supporting the other?

To tell the truth, I will not say I was disappointed because I did not have high hopes that Obama would do this. But I think that from the North American standpoint, he lost a great opportunity. The United States is still impregnated with that vision of hemisphere. Translated into good Portuguese, hemisphere, actually, is the backyard. And in the backyard you have to treat everyone more or less equally.

The fact that he does not understand that Brazil has global international traffic today… That you see in other people’s opinion. Why did they invite me and, a week after, President Lula to speak on Al-Jazeera? When would this happen before? Brazil is there, is taken as an example.

BBC Brazil: But what opportunities do you think Obama lost during his visit?

Amorim: The big thing he could have done would be to give clear and explicit support to Brazil, recognizing that Brazil can contribute to the world. He would have created a more solid alliance and would have contributed to a relationship of deep trust. This situation, with the glass half full, half empty… Things will remain just the same.

President Obama is symbolically important because he is the first black U.S. president. He has a natural appeal for the Brazilian population, which is good. Before the visit, U.S. analysts said that this was the greatest thing he could do, since the advances in the commercial area would be limited.

The United States is experiencing a moment of doubt about their own power. Even on the Libya subject, despite being engaged, there are doubt s about who is leading.

The United States will need other countries; they will need to discuss further. You cannot think that the world’s plurality is reached by outsourcing. “Oh, you do this, but do it the way I want it.” No. “You do it, so I have to take into account your opinion.” It’s a different reality, and countries like Brazil, Turkey, India, quite diversified, they can act. So, I think he lost that opportunity.

BBC Brazil: In April, President Dilma Rousseff is going to make her first state visit to China. There are reports that the United States is concerned about the growing influence of China in Latin America and African countries. How does Brazil fit into this context?

For Amorim, the United States has doubts about its own power

Amorim: If the United States is concerned about it, it could have done two things: One would be to support Brazil for the Security Council. Another would be to open the market for ethanol. Because this is how you neutralize the influence of others, not only by being concerned in theory.

People complain that our trade with China is not good from a qualitative point of view. But Brazil has, as an individual country, the largest trade surplus with China. Its biggest trade deficit is with the United States.

When they say that the ball is in our field, I totally disagree. The ball is still with the Americans; they are the ones who would have to make gestures that result in change. Let them open their markets, not as the FTAA (Free Trade Area of the Americas) wanted to do — they would have only partially opened the American market and would have had tremendous demands.

BBC Brazil: Brazil mainly exports commodities to China, while importing manufactured goods. There’s a scream for help in sectors of the Brazilian industry, which feel harmed by the entry of Chinese products…

Amorim: First, we must recognize that when we talk about commodities today it is not like in the early 20th century, when products had a very low added value. In agribusiness, in ethanol as in other products, there is a high degree of technological research aggregated there.

But pay attention. The largest trade deficits that Brazil has today are not with China, they are with developed countries, manufactured-goods-producing countries, the U.S., Germany… The biggest deficit Brazil has is with the United States, nearly $10 billion. And the biggest surplus that the U.S. has in the world is with Brazil.

If they want to change the relationship, then that is what should be reformed: Facilitating the importation of Brazilian ethanol, concluding the Doha Round. With that, they would conquer us in a good sense.

While China is buying commodities, we need to sell them to sustain the standard of life that has been achieved in Brazil. If he (Obama) is not doing it, then he cannot prevent China’s influence from increasing.