Is Brazil's Rousseff the New Voice of Latin America?
Is Brazil's Rousseff the New Voice of Latin America?
President Dilma Rousseff’s speech at the UN singling out the U.S. for spying “appears to be an attempt to gain political advantage at home,” comments AS/COA’s Eric Farnsworth.
The world has a new global voice, and it belongs to Dilma Rousseff.
The Brazilian president’s fiery speech yesterday at the United Nations condemning the US spying program solidified her position on the world’s podium as a civil liberties champion unafraid to stand up to Washington, analysts say.
“This is about global governance,” says Elena Lazarou, director of the Center for International Relations at Fundação Getúlio Vargas in Rio de Janeiro. She says that Rousseff spoke "for those not respected equally, not just Latin America or just the developing world. She’s talking about justice.”
But the forcefulness of her call for the US to respect national sovereignty and end state-sponsored espionage also took many observers by surprise, as Brazil is a longtime US alley normally accustomed to playing the role of peacemaker. President Rousseff delivered “slams,” “blasts,” and “attacks” yesterday in a speech alternately described in the media as a “tirade” and “stinging rebuke” to the US....
However, Rousseff’s decision to go beyond calling for a new set of internet security rules to lambaste the US highlights an attempt to gain political clout at home and across the region, says Eric Farnsworth, vice-president of the Council of the Americas. And to what end?
“Spying will continue, as it does by China, Russia, and Brazil itself, so singling out the US for special treatment is regrettable in my view, especially given the [US] president’s commitment to review the US approach worldwide,” says Mr. Farnsworth.
“The speech appears now to be an attempt to gain political advantage at home, but it also reinforces those in Brazil and across the region who seek to distance relations with the United States....”
