Brazil-US ties to remain cordial in Obama's 2nd term

Source:Xinhua Published: 2013-1-24 10:47:54

Relations between Brazil and the United States will remain cordial in the second term of US President Barack Obama, political analysts said Tuesday.

President of the Brazil-US Commerce Chamber Gabriel Rico said there is a strong identification of values between the two governments, and the continuity of the Obama administration is positive.

Due to its economic weight in the region, Brazil should get special attention from the US president, he told Xinhua.

"There are opportunities for strengthening the relations with Brazil, especially because Obama was the first president in a long time to clearly highlight Brazil in Latin America," he said.

Bilateral trade between Brazil and the United States grew by 120 percent in the past decade, reaching 60 billion US dollars in 2012.

According to the Brazilian Central Bank, the largest foreign direct investments in Brazil have come from the United States.

Rico said the economic and trade ties between the two countries will be further boosted in Obama's second term.

"The United States, besides having a more developed logistics structure, also needs opportunities. And the good thing is that, by investing in infrastructure in Brazil, they will bring the latest technology," he said.

Another fundamental pillars for bilateral ties is the Science without Borders academic exchange program.

"Brazil is a country which has a small population of students in the US and international universities. We are behind Colombia and Chile, and the Science without Borders program represents a bigger integration," Rico said.

The Brasilia-based daily Correio Braziliense's analyst Carlos Alexandre expects many significant advances in the relations between Brazil and the United States.

"Despite Washington's positive decision on the concession of travel visas, Brazil and the United States can increase partnerships, especially in a world in which Europe is taking a lot of time to overcome the crisis and China can always be a surprise," he said.

The United States announced last year several measures to increase the concession of visas to Brazilian citizens.

Sao Paulo University Political Science Professor Gunter Rudzit believes the relations will continue to be cordial and there may be some progress in the bilateral agenda.

"Brazil is not a problem for the United States. On the contrary, the Obama administration sees Brazil as a stabilizing force in South America, and that will not change," he said.

Some tensions in the trade sector are expected to be solved this year, especially the litigation over the subsidies conceded by the United States to its cotton farmers, which motivated an official complaint from Brazil in the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Brazil was granted the right to apply retaliation of 830 million US dollars, even though a temporary agreement was made in 2010 foreseeing the payment of 147 million dollars by Washington as aid to Brazilian farmers.

The US Congress was expected to end the cotton subsidies in 2012, but analysts say that more negotiations are expected for a peaceful solution.

Posted in: Americas

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