Argentina and Brazil reaffirmed on Friday their strategic alliance and commitment to Mercosur and regional integration during a summit in Brasilia, where President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner together with her Brazilian peer Dilma Rousseff inaugurated the new Argentine Embassy in the Brazilian capital.
Brazilian former president Lula da Silva criticized rich countries for their roll on the current economic crisis that has been changing the world’s economic map and once again came out forcibly in support of President Dima Rousseff.
Former president Lula da Silva described as ‘nonsense’ the biblical statement that the poor will be “blessed with treasure in heaven” and strongly supported the policies of his government (2003/2010) which helped millions in Brazil lift from poverty.
Former Brazilian leader Lula da Silva said President Dilma Rousseff managed the latest political crisis in the cabinet ‘correctly’ and is proving she has the capacity to lead “in this and in all situations”.
Former Brazilian president Lula da Silva claimed elites defend social inequality and anticipated he would be active again in politics ahead of the 2012 municipal elections.
Influential foreign policy experts at the New York based Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) think the United States should move closer to Brazil politically and economically and recommend the creation of a Brazilian affairs office at the National Security Council.
An estimated 39.5 million Brazilians climbed to the middle class between 2003 and May 2011 according to a report from the Getulio Vargas Foundation, FGV, released Monday and which underlined inclusion and inequality reduction as the main forces.
Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff has exchanged approximation signals with the opposition, beginning to “take distance” from her mentor Lula da Silva and seems closer to opposition Senator and former president Fernando Cardoso.
Commenting this week’s resignation of Brazilian chief of staff Antonio Palocci in the midst of a political crisis that has shaken Brazil in the past few days, former president Lula da Silva said that Dilma “had the authority to fire the chief of staff and acted at the right time.”
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff was expected to consult her predecessor Lula da Silva before deciding whether to dismiss Cabinet Chief Antonio Palocci, who has come under scrutiny for consulting fees he earned while managing Rousseff’s election campaign, according to the Sao Paulo press.