PJ: Reading reports in the conservative American press, you would get the idea that President Obama is sunning himself on a Brazilian beach instead of working for the American people. First criticized for "dithering" with respect to Libya, conservatives are now blasting him for not getting a Congressional declaration of war to attack Libya (although they did not require Reagan to do so when he issued orders to bomb the same country in 1986). Now Fox News and other conservative media outlets are slamming him for traveling to South America (where he hopes to improve relations for economic opportunities and energy related matters) instead of sitting in Washington monitoring the Libyan situation.
The National Post
Obama's Brazil visit overshadowed by Libya air assaults
Matt Spetalnick and Stuart Grudgings, Reuters ·
RIO DE JANEIRO - President Barack Obama heaped praise on Brazil’s rise as a democratic, global power Sunday as he courted Latin America on a trip overshadowed by a U.S. and European air assault on Muammar Gaddafi’s forces in Libya.
On the second day of what aides call his signature first-term trip to the region, Mr. Obama viewed Rio de Janeiro’s famed beaches and mountains from his helicopter and played soccer with slum kids in a display of cultural affinity.
In a speech at a historic theater broadcast live on television, he said Brazil had emerged from decades of underperformance to become a powerful economy and a flourishing democracy that had many shared values with the United States.
An old joke that Brazil would always be a “country of the future” because of its unfulfilled potential no longer held true, he said.
“For the people of Brazil, the future has arrived,” he said to warm applause from hundreds of invited guests at Rio’s Municipal Theater.
Mr. Obama, who is seeking improved relations with Brazil after a period marked by tensions and neglect, focused heavily on the two countries’ shared culture and history, including their fights against colonial powers and their multicultural people.
“We became colonies claimed for distant crowns, but soon declared our independence. We welcomed waves of immigrants to our shores, and eventually cleansed the stain of slavery from our land,” he said.
Mr. Obama’s attention was divided by the biggest military intervention in the Arab world since the Iraq invasion.
The military campaign against Col. Gaddafi’s forces that was launched Saturday intruded on Mr. Obama’s schedule of diplomacy and business promotion in both Rio and the capital Brasilia, the first leg of his trip.
The White House has justified Mr. Obama’s five-day Latin American tour in large part for its potential dividends of boosting U.S. exports to help create American jobs, also considered crucial to his 2012 re-election chances.
His talks on Saturday with Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff focused heavily on bolstering economic ties with Latin America’s powerhouse, though little progress was made on key disputes such as trade barriers.
Conservative critics may seize the opportunity to chide Mr. Obama for being away from Washington — and in a city renowned for its pristine beaches — at a time when he is putting U.S. forces in harm’s way. Republican foes have accused him of a failure of leadership in a string of international crises.
But in keeping with his “no-drama Obama” image, the White House wants to avoid any sense the U.S. president is being held hostage by events or unable to tend to other crucial business.
Mr. Obama was huddling with top aides in Brazil as the military operations in Libya unfolded.
Mr. Obama’s only planned sightseeing in Rio is to the city’s iconic Christ the Redeemer hilltop statue.
He was greeted by children at a youth center in the “City of God” slum with chants of “Obama, Obama, Obama” before being treated with wife Michelle and his two daughters to a performance of the musical Brazilian martial art Capoeira.
In a nod to Brazil’s favorite sport, he then kicked a soccer ball around with young players outside as security men scanned the area from the rooftops of dilapidated buildings.
Mr. Obama demonstrated a few neat kicks of his own. ”Can you dribble it?” he asked one boy, who then tapped the ball a few times in the air on one foot.
The City of God slum inspired a 2002 movie of the same name and is now part of a drive to oust drug gangs and improve security in its slums as the city prepares to host the World Cup soccer championship in 2014 and the Olympics in 2016.
Rio, a city that seemed in inexorable decline a decade ago, has been rejuvenated by Brazil’s economic boom, the discovery of vast oil fields off its shores, its selection as Olympic host and a big improvement in security.
With crises rocking the Middle East and pushing up oil prices, the United States is taking a keen interest in the deep-sea oil reserves that Brazil is starting to tap off the Rio coast. Mr. Rousseff said on Saturday she saw opportunities for both countries to cooperate in developing the fields.
Mr. Obama will leave Rio Monday morning for a visit to Chile and will wrap up the tour Wednesday in tiny El Salvador.
© Thomson Reuters 2011
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/world/Obamas+Brazil+visit+overshadowed+Libya+assaults/4473934/story.html
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