The United States: An Example Not to Be Followed

“The United States is an example not be followed.” This is what Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff believes. “The discussion concerning the raising of the debt limit was an entirely parochial dispute which undermines the country’s influence in the world. What is left to them? Flooding the planet with dollars and transferring part of its adjustment to emerging markets. This is not going to lead to anything good,” she confirmed during her second interview this week with the magazine Carta Capital, which I recommend reading.

For the president, the whole world should know what to do to confront the crisis. “Our central bank, for example, wields many tools to analyze and act. But what is the purpose of all this knowledge and experience if in a situation so parochial, the leaders of the world’s largest economy did what they did?” she questioned.

Dilma Rousseff argues that Brazil has the right to worry about the choices the U.S. makes because Brazil has $350 billion in reserves and is already the fourth largest creditor of the United States. The head of the government praised the role of the Union of South American Countries in Latin America. “Before, during the 1990s and in the beginning of 2000s, the alternative was to make free trade agreements with the United States in the hopes of achieving happiness,” she commented. She pointed out that today, however, the situation is different. The forum brings together countries with significant growth rates with huge potential integration that can be used for the common good.

Ambiguous relationship with China

China was another topic covered in depth during the interview. For the nation’s leader, the relationship that Brazil has with the Asian country is what you would want — innovation, partnership and supply chains in a bilateral agenda. “If they want a partnership with us, there must be science, technology and innovation,” she affirmed, citing the satellite area as one of the possibilities.

For her, the complete knock-down production model — in which all of the parts are imported from other countries, and the product is only installed in a Brazilian factory — is no good. It would be up to Brazil to check and see whether or not the Chinese are using the complete knock-down method in the country. The same would apply to cases of triangulation between certain countries for certain products to escape Brazil’s anti-dumping barriers. We must guarantee that this does not happen, she added.

Sanitation

The president also touched on the importance of sanitation in Brazil. She explained that the federal government has no way of doing the work directly, as the responsibility falls on each state. Still, the government has set aside about $24 billion for projects related to water management. She further explained, “We give preference to large population concentrations.”

The efficiency of the project’s implementation, in the meantime, rests with the sanitation companies. The states that do not have sanitation companies will have lower efficiency in the execution of these projects, she said. At the close of her interview, the president promised the construction of 750,000 cisterns in the semi-arid northeast region where 20 million Brazilians live. This year alone, 3,000 will be constructed. Check out this week’s material. The entire material will be available in printed form only.