MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Mercosur and South America, remain top priorities of Brazilian diplomacy

President Dilma Rousseff also defended the role of G-20 in world governance

South American countries, particularly Mercosur members remain as top priority of Brazil’s foreign policy confirmed this week President Dilma Rousseff.

“South America will continue to be the foreign policy priority of my government. There’s no room for discords and rivalries which split us in the past”, said Rousseff during the graduation ceremony of a new promotion of diplomats at the Foreign Affairs ministry, Itamaraty palace.

Rousseff said that Brazil has “extraordinary conditions to give continuity to a foreign policy tuned with a national project that on three times, two with former President Lula da Silva and now with me, has the full support from the Brazilian society”.

The priority given to South America was clearly marked when President Rousseff decided that her first official trip overseas last January was to Argentina to meet with her peer Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.

“The destiny of South America, of each of its countries and ours is indissolubly linked” emphasized the Brazilian leader.

However United States and Europe will continue to be important partners “with which we will have intense, constructive and balanced relations”.

Ms Rousseff addressing the new promotion of diplomats which included several foreign graduates, openly supported and defended the current world governance which has the Group of 20 (developed and emerging economies) playing a leading role in world affairs. (Brazil, Argentina and Mexico, represent Latin America in G20).

“The institutions of yonder times have become obsolete. Global economic governance inherited from last century succumbed to the 2008 financial crisis together with the dogma of markets’ infallibility. G-7 was definitively replaced by G20 in addressing the ways out of the crisis”, underlined Ms Rousseff

The president also called for the reform of several international organizations plus insisting on Brazil’s long standing objective of becoming full member of a reformed UN Security Council.

Regarding China from where she recently returned from a six-day official visit with billions of US dollars in trade contracts and commitments, President Rousseff described it as a ‘quality leap’, although “there’s still much to do in improving trade terms”.

“I returned very satisfied, I think it was a quality leap in our bilateral relations, but we want to advance further. Currently we sell mostly commodities to China; we also want to sell them manufactured, processed goods”.

“The visit was very successful because we achieved our objectives: opening the doors to the Chinese market for Brazilian elaborated goods, and working together with Beijing in developing those areas”, said Ms Rousseff.

“The item which we most sell to China is iron ore. We want to sell steel, and finished goods made out of steel” said the president.

Agreements in technology with leading Chinese companies in the field were also in the package but Ms Rousseff admitted “Brazil needs to make a significant effort to prepare and train labour”.