Lula Celebrates Obama Victory and Says U.S. Election Represents Victory for Democracy

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva celebrated the victory of Democrat Barack Obama in the presidential elections in the United States this Wednesday. Lula said he hopes Obama can secure peace in the Middle East, end the economic embargo on Cuba and pay more attention to Latin America and all poor countries.

The Democrat became the first African-American elected to the presidency in the United States, and also is the first candidate since 1996 to win the elections through a resounding majority.

Lula celebrates Obama’s victory and says that the election represents a victory for democracy.

Jason Reed/Reuters/4 November 2008

Obama needed 270 votes in the electoral college to win the presidential election, a mark he exceeded by an ample margin, receiving at least 342 votes to the 143 votes received by his rival, Republican John McCain, in a historic vote in the U.S.

Lula remembered that “winning an election” is different than “governing the U.S.” “I think that Obama’s victory represents the acknowledgment of the significance of those who doubted that a black man could be elected in the U.S. And now they know that it can happen.”

The Brazilian president affirmed that Obama’s election was only possible because society manifested itself in a democratic regime. “[The election] can only occur in a democratic regime in which society manifests itself. It is an extraordinary achievement, the election of the first black man in the history of the U.S. Above all, a person who has demonstrated the political competence of president-elect Obama.”

Lula did not conceal that he has a series of positive expectations that revolve around Obama’s presidency. “I hope he has a stronger relationship with Latin America, South America and Africa, and has the possibility of sealing a peace deal in the Middle East, where they have been trying for decades and decades without success,” he said.

The Brazilian president also affirmed being confident that a “constructive partnership” would be built with the United States in the next few years. “I hope that there will be policy directed to the productive development of Latin America. It is necessary that the United States continue to have a more active policy towards Latin America, given that during the entire decades of the 60’s and 70’s you had the Cold War, when the United States maintained a vision of fighting the guerrillas in the region. Now it has changed, democracy has been consolidated with Latin America.”

Lula said that he hopes Obama will execute a policy with a vision towards “development and investment in the poorest countries, the end of subsidies and the end of the [economic] embargo in Cuba.” According to him, there are no reasons to maintain the restrictive economic policies towards Cuba. “There is no explanation for this.”

The Brazilian president participated today in the ceremony celebrating the 20 years of the Constitution in Brasilia. On the occasion, he planted an Aroeira tree, while the presidents of the House of Representatives, Arlindo Chinaglia (PT-SP), and the Senate, Garibaldi Alves (PMDB-RN), planted trees of another species.