In La Jornada today, Sunday, March 15.(my translation)
from Afp, Notimex and Reuters [no US news service mentioned]
Washington, March 14. The president of Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva met today with his US counterpart, Barack Obama, as spokesman for Latin America. In his first meeting since the Democrat arrived at the White House on January 20, the Brazilian asked Obama to improve relations with Cuba, Venezuela and Bolivia and urged that interregional relations not be reduced to combatting narcotrafico. He noted that the US has an historic opportunity to construct a new relationship with Latin American countries.
With only a month and three days until the Summit of the Americas is held -- at which Venezuela and Bolivia insist on the presence of Cuba--, Lula is the first leader of South America whom Obama has received in Washington, although Friday the US President had a phone conversaition with President Cristina Fernández e Kirchner in order to address multilateral matters ahead of the Group of 20 Summit in London on April 2.
"What I said to President Obama, and I hope it will happen, is that it is essential that there be a warming of relations with Venezuela, with Cuba and with Bolivia," said Lula during a press conference at the Brazilian Embassy in Washington.
"I think that we must construct in Latin America a new relationship (with the US), a relationship of trust, of not meddling, of getting together good things [compaginar las cosas buenas]," he added.
A few minues before at a press conference that he and Obama gave at the White House, the Brazilian affirmed that Obama has an historic opportunity to improve relations with Latin America. The US president made no direct reference to Lula's statements, but at another point he said that he admired the progressive leadership of Brazil in the region.
Brazil and the US have sought to strengthen their relationship through cooperation in the matter of energy resources, particularly of biocombustibles.
However, the two countries have been confrontational because of US policies which subsidize agricultural production and the taxes the US puts on the importation of Brazilian [sugar-cane-based] ethanol, which, as Obama acknowledged, is a source of tension which only will be fixed with the passage of time (the tariffs are not set to expire until 2010.) [And you thought we were champions of free trade.]
Lula, who spoke for a little more than an hour with Obama, reminded him that it was only a few days until the Summit of the Americas -- from the 17th to the 19th of April -- and that at that summit, we're going to find all of us -- all the presidents of the Americas."
The president made no reference to the Hugo Chávez's petition to invite his Cuban counterpart, Raúl Castro, to the meetings. The Venezuelan said that he had talked about this matter with Bolivian President Evo Morales who took the same position.
[They said a bit more on this topic. Lula's mentioned that he talks frequently with Chavez and that Chavez et al have high hopes of a warming of relations with the US. Then more on various meetings, etc. and mention that Lula and Obama talked about the world economic crisis and what they could say at the Group of 20 meetings. And some pro forma stuff.]