Brazil’s shift to democracy could inspire Middle East says Obama

Brazil’s transition from military rule into a thriving democracy can serve as an example for other countries including in the Middle East according to U.S. President Barack Obama.

In the speech given in Rio de Janeiro’s Municipal Theatre, Obama emphasized that Brazil is “a country that shows democracy delivers both freedom and opportunity to its people.” “As two nations who have struggled over many generations to perfect our own democracies, the United States and Brazil know that the future of the Arab world will be determined by its people,” Obama said to the crowd of roughly 2000 people.
In part of his speech (which can be seen below) Obama explained the example of Brazilian democracy for the world:

Though Obama neglected to back Brazil’s bid for a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council, he touched on the importance of close relations between the U.S. and the growing global power. “Let us stand together…not as senior and junior partners, but as equal partners,” said Obama.

Earlier on Sunday Obama visited the Ciudade de Dios (City of God) favela where he watched children perform capoeira moves and also kicked a soccer ball around with some kids. Despite the welcoming crowds in that slum and during his speech, an estimated 200 people protested near the Municipal Theatre protested against U.S. foreign policy.

Today’s speech was supposed to take place in Rio’s Cinelandia plaza but was changed abruptly days before Obama arrived in Brazil. The U.S. Embassy did not explain why the venue was switched, though Cinelandia was the site where a key 1984 protest took place against the ruling dictatorship. Obama seemed to have acknowledged this in his speech when he discussed Brazil’s shift to democracy.

Tonight he is expected to tour Rio’s famed Christ the Redeemer statue before moving on to Chile on Monday. He will be there until Wednesday when he travels to El Salvador, the last country on his visit to Latin America.

Video Source – AP via YouTube
Online Sources- BBC News, MSNBC, Folha.com, USA TODAY, Los Angeles Times, The Latin Americanist, Bloomberg, Reuters

Daily Headlines: October 25, 2010

* Bolivia: President Evo Morales said that the government will go ahead with or without a foreign partner in the production of lithium batteries.

* El Salvador: What does the information on the conflict in Iraq disclosed by WikiLeaks have to do with El Salvador's civil war?

* Latin America: The Christian Science Monitor analyzed the improved state of democracy in contemporary Latin America.

* U.S.: The Floridian convicted of killing two Chilean students last year will stand trial in April and could be sentenced to the death penalty.

Image - Scientific American ("Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia is the largest salt pan in the world. Beneath its crust is found the world's largest concentration of lithium, estimated at 5.4 million metric tons by the U.S. Geological Survey—or roughly half of the world's reserves.")
Online Sources - Miami Herald, The Latin Americanist, Christian Science Monitor, The Independent, CBC, BusinessWeek

Report: Venezuelan “authoritarianism” threatens democracy

Venezuela, China, Iran, and Russia are four authoritarian countries who use their influence to undermine other democracies. That is the main claim made in a report released on Thursday by the Washington-based Freedom House along with U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Radio Free Asia.

According to the study, Venezuela and the other three countries “are using soft-power methods to advance their interests internationally, particularly through billions of dollars in no strings attached development aid." The report cited China’s growing economic and political influence in Latin America such as signing a loans-for-oil deal with Brazil or agreeing to a free trade deal with Peru.

The report warned of increasing ties to the Americas by Iran and singled out Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez as "a novel type of Latin American" strongman. In its analysis of the study, The Economist had this to add:

Over the past ten years, Venezuela’s aid has been comparable to China’s, though it is now falling behind. Gustavo Coronel, a critic of President Hugo Chávez, says Mr Chávez has made $43 billion worth of foreign “commitments” since 1999. Roughly $17 billion could be described as aid, including cheap oil to Cuba and cash transfers to Bolivia. The report estimates that Venezuela’s cheap-oil programme alone is worth $1.7 billion a year, though its most flamboyant feature—cheap heating oil for poor Americans—was recently scrapped. [ed. – Correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t the cheap oil program started again?]

Image- Cleveland.com (The Petrocaribe initiative was started by Venezuelan and provides cheap oil to several countries in the region).
Online Sources- The Latin Americanist, AP, The Economist, Reuters

Weekly debate: Democracy and the economy in Latin America

Over the past few years countries throughout Latin America are enjoying extraordinary economic growth as shown by the following examples:

• Chile’s final quarter growth in 2006 was 4.3%.
• Uruguay’s GDP grew last year by 7%.
• Interest rates in Colombia were raised to 8.25% in response to strong economic growth.

While the news may be encouraging for investment and the overall economy of a country, economic development has not met rising growth. In Venezuela, for instance, a miniscule percentage of GDP goes to the poor, while 40% of the region lives below the poverty line.

It is this lack of economic development that has hurt democratic regimes throughout the region. Regardless of a government’s ideology or how much an economy has increased abject poverty continues, and this has gradually led to a lack of public confidence in democracy.

Now we’re not advocating a turn towards fascism or extreme socialism, but something has to be done in order for Latin Americans to regain faith in democracy and its institutions. So what do you think? What changes need to be done? Will democracy continue in the Americas or revert towards extremism?

Links- Bloomberg, MercoPress, Forbes, El Universal, Yahoo! News, Houston Chronicle

Image- Adelante! (Scene from the documentary “Favela Rising”)