Is "President Luis Ignacio 'Lula' da Silva" a joke about the faux pas the Whitehouse commited before the meeting between Obama and Lula after Obama's election?

The name of the president is actually "Luís Inácio Lula da Silva", without quotes around "Lula" and without "g" in "Inácio" :)

Mexico City hosted the Olympic Games in 1968. Mexico is still part of Latin America. Therefore, to say that "Next, Brazil becomes the first country in Latin America to be awarded the right to host the Olympics." is not 100% correct. In fact, Brazil is the first in South America.

In addition, I'm not quite familiar with the meaning of CASHIER in the following sentence: "First, the countries of the world cashier the G8 and embrace the G20, guaranteeing Brazil a permanent place at the most important table in the world." Could you please clarify? Thank you.

Kind regards,
Ninguém

Amorim is being groomed to be Lula's successor in 2010. With Meirelles as his running mate.

Read around with this in mind and you'll see the writing on the wall.

Did Amorin got his man (Luis Felipe Seixas) to WTO ? NO
Did he got his man (Joao Sayad) to IDB ? NO
Did he got a seat at the security council ? NO
Did he improved relationships with Arab dictatorships ? YES
Did he improved relationships with the only middle-east democratic country ? NO
Did he vote to condemn Sudanese government for the Dafur massacres ? NO
Did he condemned the narc-terrorists from FARC ? NO
Did he polish Hugo Chaves boots every other week ? YES

In Brazil still exists a group (kindly called by "minority that sees itself as most") that would like to sell the country for those who pay less, if the buyer ensures a trip for the seller and it's family for Europe.
These people are always criticizing policies of inclusion of the poor and greater equality.
Brazil did NOT polished anyone boots. We just want to help our latin neighbors (and be helped), increasing our strength against known and historical abuses in our countries by foreigners.
Thanks

Nevermind about this loosers, in Brazil we often joke about this "Cur Syndrome" (search for Nelson Rodrigues for further information): that means many brazilians think about Brazil and themselves as a second class contry, they cant see our development and they cant accept a former metalworker is our best president ever!

Most of this critics came from the sad brazilian elite that wants badly to keep the old status cuo (that means buying justice, politicians and do whatever they want), and their brainwashed playboy sons, who has time to write comments on the internet and feel shame for Lula being a man "from the people". They like being superior and step on the poor heads with dad's money, powerful cars and empty minds...

Anyway, I always thought about Amorim as our best minister! He has always the right word for any situation! Still I think we are loosing time to create a green leadership around the globe. This is the future and we have all the tools...

It would probably be a bad thing if Brazil entered the permanent members of the Security Council the way things are now. The five of them can barely agree on anything meaningful without one or two of the others vetoing it (I'm looking at YOU China, Russia, United States). Suggestions from the West about how to reform the Security Council seem to always meet accusations that they're trying to take power away from the General Assembly. Lastly, Brazil still doesn't have the clout to get a seat. Admittedly neither does France, but that's more of a matter of figuring out how to change the membership. To all Brazilians, be patient! If you've waited this long for your time you can wait another ten years for the perfect chance.

With all due respect, Mr. Rothkopf, be better informed. All the Honduras episode only shows the weakness of brazilian foreign relations, driven by bolivarian ideas. And Mr. Lula is allways shaking hands with dictators. This is not foreign relations for a country looking for international leadership.

And all this leftist talk about the "old elite", give me a break. Lula is the new face of this old elite. Just watch the development indicators of north-northeast Brazil. People there keeps on poverty, in despite of this political bullshit.

Get more information about Brazil, Mr. Rothkopf. And I almost forgot: the "girl of Ipanema" is now a granny.

Another man blinking his obviously brillant career as a minister of foreign affairs is Ahmet Davutoglu in Turkey. He is out of Turkish Parlament and this is very important point because it shows that he was choosed due to his deep knowladge as an academician. We will se wheater he can turn this theorical skills into the praxis.
He has awared as an exception of Turkish ex-ministers, that modernity based on Eurocentrism has lost its position seen permanent in history and features of globalism has begun to bring accumulation of humanity in this scene inevitably, previously Asians'. It looks a revolation if we consider the history of Turkish diplomacy which had had a absolute conviction for the West. So the current policies of Turkey like Armenian and Kurdish expansions or abolishing the visa prosedure with Syria seem the works of this new idea sitted on the table of Minister of Forign Affairs Or Turkey.
Last May Lula da Silva visited to Tukey and had some conferances in which he recommended to Tukey the escape ways from crisis. And he wanted to company with Turkey. Before Brazil has overwhelmed its crisis, for decades the economic and social indicators of these two countries had engrossingly been the same on the graphics. Even some Turkish specialists had waggishly said that we must had looked at Brazil for a good predictions to make money in Turkeys' markets. Now Brazil has become a permanent position in the world policy, and Turkey has begun to proceed to attact in global affairs. And Brazils' President visited to Turkey at such a time.
Was it coincidence? I don't think so.

"The evidence that something new and important was happening in Brazil began to build years ago, when then President Cardoso engineered a shift to economic orthodoxy that stabilized a country racked by cycles of boom and bust and mind-blowing inflation."

It´s not right, the changes starts in with Itamar Franco, the president BEFORE Cardoso.

Cardoso sell important government companies (phone companies, energy companies, mining... ) and try to sell out Petrobras (everybody knows Petrobras - one of the largest oil companis).
Sell for a ridiculous value, something like 1% of the original price.

Cardoso left a U$ 165.000.000.000,00 OF FMI debits, Lula have PAY it, and now Brazil loans money to FMI.

Cardoso have bankruptcy Brazil 3 times in your government.

and a list of scandal: here there is a little sample (portuguese only):
http://www.consciencia.net/corrupcao/documentos/fhc-45escandalos.html

Your president was right, Lula is "the Guy"

"Did Amorin got his man (Luis Felipe Seixas) to WTO ? NO
Did he got his man (Joao Sayad) to IDB ? NO
Did he got a seat at the security council ? NO
Did he improved relationships with Arab dictatorships ? YES
Did he improved relationships with the only middle-east democratic country ? NO
Did he vote to condemn Sudanese government for the Dafur massacres ? NO
Did he condemned the narc-terrorists from FARC ? NO
Did he polish Hugo Chaves boots every other week ? YES"

you forgot about the relationship and friendship with the anti-semite leader and pro-genocide Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Amorim is a shame for brazilians.. He is a fanatic, anti-yankee, fascists dictators lover and thanks of god, a loser, who always lose in every brazil's important names.

LULA IS THE CHIEF OF ALL MOBS IN BRAZIL, LIKE FÔRO DE SÃO PAULO, COMANDO VERMELHO, PCC, AND PARTNER OF FARCS.

"This may have been the best month for Brazil since about June 1494." You don't know Brazil. Take your eyes off of our natural resources, stop playing politics with this. We are not Iraq!

From all argument put against Lula the one I like most is low/less/not educated man. I would remember that other governments have tried to stop inflation before, eatch one with its alliances, and brasilian society clainbed slowlly from USA sponsored state coup military presidents, throught media oligarchy addicted desastrous playboy pupet, to the narcisit Fernando Henrique, ex-gauche pictured highly educated intelectual 90`s telecon son. Each one proposed its solution limited on the objectives of the sponsors desires.

Well, what about this bunch of crap they say here?

- You are here commenting because the actions of the government of Mr. Fernando Henrique allowed us to have access to telecommunications.

- Do you have a computer because the actions of the government of Mr. Fernando Henrique allowed the stabilization of the economy.

If all goes well and I think that happens in another year we will be free of these people that the only thing they do is steal our money and have few results.

Lula spent so much and so badly, that never close their accounts. They include the repeated delays in the restoration of income tax payers.

Sir, this recognition is long overdue. He's a brilliant diplomat that has brought respect and dignity to our Foreign Affairs. Those flocking here to trash your well researched article; are nothing but a bunch of parasites connected to the CORRUPT ancien régime of former president CARDOSO...that by the way should be behind bars by now for robbery and high treason. They may well be just ONE person.. HE himself using those silly nicks.Those retrograde Feudals can't stand seeing a SON OF THE PEOPLE leading the country so well. Being the OLIGARCHS that they are, they will NEVER accept the Social and Economic changes that's been implemented by the present administration. They're a vocal minority +/- 8% of the population, mostly hail from the state of SAO PAULO, invariably light skinned descendents of poor europeans immigrants who came here to replace the african slaves after the abolition in the late 19th century. They see themselves as ''Europeans aristocrats'', they hate our beloved President LULA for his humble origins, they're racists, they don't like to be part of Latin America...they're just plain silly. Sir, don't bother with their unfair criticism; those people are discredited and despised here in Brazil...they are our equivalent of the cubans exiles in South Florida...GUSANOS...insects that transformed our Great Nation into the biggest Banana Republic on earth...SHAME ON THEM!

Im sorry but Ill be very quick. That issue is completely desgusting to us. You really dont know about youre saying about. You still must learn a lot about brasilian affairs and our internal problems. Amorim has been the worst diplomat ever since Rio Branco was born. Lula is a stupid and corrupt. By the way if you like Amorim and Lula i think you should be a Chavez fan? Learn more about Lula and Brazil and i guess you can stop to write bullshits...

Mr. David J. Rothkopf,
Please tell me.
They [PT] asked you to write these things about Mr. Amorim?
Everyone knows that he will be a candidate in 2010 elections.
And as he is a stranger to the people, need to advertise.
Because of this, suddenly he is using the media like never before a chanceller did in the history of Brazil.
Brazilian diplomacy has always been a source of pride for us.
And this man, Mr. Amorim, is messing this beautiful history.
He and his partners are a bad joke.
He is arrogant and thinks all the people is ignorant.
It's obvious that the the 'operation tegucigalpa' was orchestred by sr. Chaves. And the brazilian diplomacy will pay the bill.
In time: samba is african and don't have nothing with portuguese colonial heritage.
churrasco is a spanish heritage of the south colonization.
The Girl from Ipanema is only one between millions of good brazilian songs.
And Gisele Bundchen is, of course, fruit of the german colonization of the south...

This has certainly produced a lively discussion. That's a good thing. A couple comments: as for the light-hearted list of things Brazilian in the first paragraph, it was just that, a light-hearted list. A list of thing identified with Brazil rather than things which best capture of the essence of Brazil. (This is after all for an international audience.)

I also want to make clear that there's plenty that Amorim and Lula support that I do not. There have been plenty of problems associated with their foreign policies and scandals and other missteps associated with their domestic efforts that are insupportable.

I was simply making the case that the one important way to measure the effectiveness of a foreign minister is whether or not he or she advances the interests of his government worldwide. Another is whether or not his or her actions help elevate the stature or alter the role of that government in the community of nations. By both metrics, Amorim has been successful. And by the latter metric he has arguably more successful than any of his counterparts worldwide.

As for my not knowing anything about Brazil, I respond two ways: First, I have been actively involved in working with Brazil and Brazilians for many years and have tried to learn as much as I could (despite being from New Jersey and clearly limited by my upbringing). Second, who can truly know Brazil?

If Adolf Hitler was a petralha soul, he would not have committed suicide, he would have told the Russians, "Wow, I'm glad you came, imagine if I had won the war?"

Capisce?

But, Petralhas do not have a soul. No Honor, no dignity, only stupidity.

BRAVO! Well said Dave. Brazil is a country of continental dimensions and has a multiethnic population to match...it's not an easy place to understand...but i'm pretty sure that you know and understand it better than these airheads followers of the CORRUPT former president CARDOSO. Don't waste your time with these asinines...tell them to follow the Venezuelans and the anticastrists GUSANOS; and go to their natural habitat Miami... and invest their ill-gotten fortunes there. It's ironic that they accuse you of knowing nothing about Brazil when they themselves live SHAMELESSLY in their Monte Carlo like enclaves(always next to one of thousands FAVELAS/shantytowns that encircle the city of SAO PAULO)and seldom venture beyond their heavily guarded gated communities...except when they fly on their private jets to MIAMI...of course. I'm ashamed to call these people my countrymen. They raped and robbed our nation for over 500 years...and they're not satisfied yet. They'll not hesitate to undo every achievement of the LULA'S administration to suit their financial gains. They hate the president and the masses that elected him twice. 99.9% of them are racists and separatists from SAO PAULO state, who hate the President for his social policies, as well as for his northeastern background and his humble origins. I have this message for our American friends: do not believe and give credit to these bandits...they're drug barons; they're money launderers; they're tax evaders,therefore: you should arrest them the moment they touch the American soil. Patrick FITZGERALD would be the right man to take care of these crooks.

Mr. Rothkopf, very precise and honest your post.
Unfortunately you must be surprised about several prejudiced postings by Brazilian neocons (see their words and style).
They do not accept the legitimacy of president Lula and his 85% of approval according to the opinion of Brazilians.
They are intelectually dishonest and always distort the data and facts to support their speech.

Maybe you could help them to get a green card to move on to USA, because they think the only way to deal with USA and Europe is through the Washington Consensus.

In fact they miss President Cardoso's time, when Mr.Lafer, Amorim's predecessor, ashamedly took his shoes off 3 times crossing the USA customs.

Kind regards from Brazil.

Q: Who distorts the words of the Constitution of Honduras?
A: Lula and Amorim. They lie for everyone.
The whole world has become stupid and ignorant.

The American press died, the Brazilian press died.
I do not understand: Obama studied at Harvard, but he can not read the Honduran Constitution with the eyes of truth.
Why?, just simples words ...

the lier is you. How a president who name is full of dirt and a lot of corruption's issues has 85% of approval???

And his foreign minister is a ideologic commie and friend of ethnic cleaners, narco-terrorists, jihadists, anti-semites and other craps who are enemies of the democracy.

Today it is clear that the goal of the socialists was just coming to power, done!, now forget socialism!, now they want blood and more power.

Dear David Rothkopf

I'm a simple person.

What hell the whole world wants from Obama? Obama knows?

Oil is not a problem. Latin America and USA have a lot.

Third: Who can truly know brazil? Dont know. but ive got a truly hint. the brazilians. it sounds me very nasty when somebody living abroad which havent enough inteligility to do it. This country is getting better and stronger in spite of Lula da Silva. Nowadays Lula is a mere lame duck spending time ashaming us and spreading his ignorance all over the world.

I've lived in Brasil all my life and completely agree with the comments that say that our country is better in spite of Mr. Lula da Silva and his corrupt cohort.
Mr. da Silva's government has as its base the very worst of Brazilian politics, the PMDB party, the most corrupt gang of politicians to ever inhabit our planet, and to whom, in name of governability, Mr. da Silva has sold his soul. With the support of PMDB, Mr. Da Silva has ballooned the Brazilian internal debt to over 1.3 trillion dollars, has failed to implement ANY of the reforms the country badly needed, such as tributary and social security, and has kept heath care, education, security, public transport and just about everything else precisely as they were with his predecessor, which is in very bad shape to say the least.
Mr. Da Silva only merit was to lie to us before the election about his economic intentions, when he said that, among other things, would default payments to IMF and not pay a single cent to the "imperialist dogs" such as the US and UK, and instead followed precisely the guidelines established by his predecessor, Mr. Cardoso, which ironically, had at his base the same PMDB party (talk about change!). That lie, first among many, was responsible for the relative improvement of our nations economy. Relative, I say, with emphasis. Unemployment is still at 10%, in spite of heavy make-up of numbers by official agencies, and GDP per capita is still below Chile and Argentina, as it has always been. The poor receive free money but no opportunities or perspectives, and private companies receive sub par treatment, as usual in proto-Stalinist socialist states. The only viable careers are in public branches of government, ballooning the size of the state to levels never before seen. Corruption scandals abound, and all point to our less-than-enlightened leader, Mr. Da Silva, who seems to be never at home, traveling on his newly acquired airplane on his grand international Brazilian World Marketing Tour.
Some say 85% approval rates (official numbers, of course). Funny, his candidate, former terrorist Dilma Housseff, seems to be stuck below 20% for the next election. Mr. Amorim collects defeats and is now laughingstock thanks to the Honduran fiasco. The only defense of Mr. Da Silva supporters is to attack his detractors with words of effect such as “neocons”, “elite”, "neoliberals" or “reactionaries” and to point that the previous government was just as corrupt.
Trust me, most of us will be very happy to see 2010 arrive and Mr Da Silva and his troupe go.

David, what you see written here by these lunatics supporters of the MOST CORRUPT POLITICIAN IN OUR 500 YEARS HISTORY- former President Fernando Henrique CIAardoso- is nothing, compared to what they say in private. I wish i had recorded all the rubbish that i have heard in some of the dinner parties i was invited to. They have nothing but HATE for President OBAMA, LULA, CHAVEZ, KIRCHNER...they're a tropical version of the KKK but with a lot of ill-gotten money. They're unashamedly racists, homophobes and anti-semites - even though their favourite media outlet here is VEJA; a widely circulated rightwing mag owned by a Jewish Italo-American extremist with close ties to the Likud party in Israel and the Neocons in the US. They come here to accuse President Lula and Foreign Minister Celso AMORIM of being anti-semite just because of our pragmatist FOREIGN POLICY...SHAME ON THEM. Brazil is a developing economy and we need to do business with everybody...so does the US and the EU. Ahmadinejad is coming to Brazil...but the extremist Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Liberman came first and was well received...BRAZIL/MERCOSUL has a FREE TRADE AGREEMENT with Israel...President LULA'S widely respected spokesperson Andre SINGER is Jewish and so are thousands of members of the president's Worker's party PT. I would NEVER vote for an anti-semite/racist/homophobe...but this is EXACTLY the kind of politicians they vote for. Just to remind, last election here, the president's main rival was a protegé of former president CARDOSO named ALCKMIN from the SEPARATIST state of SAO PAULO...the guy's and still is a real nutcase... He's a extremist member of the Catholic FASCIST OPUS DEI order founded by the notorious Spanish anti-semite JOSEMARIA ESCRIVA DE BALAGUER. The present Governor of the above mentioned state (José SERRA), is another nutcase too. A CARDOSO'S protegé as well and an aspiring candidate in the next year's presidential election, this former Trotskyite turncoat is a real trickster who allows no dissent and governs his CORRUPTION RIDDEN home state with an iron grip.
The state of SAO PAULO is the most politically REACTIONARY place in Brazil...you don't have to travel down here to feel it. Their Bourgeoisie is a JOKE...they think they're some kind of Arians accidentally transplanted to South America...these people are the RUBBISH OF THE RUBBISH...just like their Cuban Brethren in Miami.

É realmente uma pena ver tantos brasileiros falando tanta besteira sobre a materia acima.
De certa forma entendo essas criticas idiotas ditas aqui, pois sei que os brasileiros sofreram e ainda tem muita gente sofrendo com fome e outras mazelas. Posso perceber que esse sofrimento está entranhado nestas pessoas de uma maneira que as cega impossibilitando a visão de qualquer mudança do nosso Brasil e criticando qualquer coisa que seja dita de uma maneira boa sobre o Brasil. Na verdade, acho que durante toda a minha vida (até o momento 38 anos), nunca vi uma evolução tão grande do meu país. Uma evolução de certa maneira rápida, mas infelizmente não rápida o bastante para mudar a idéia destas bestas brasileiras que acham que um país com 200 milhoes de habitantes e uma extensão territorial gigante se transforma da noite para o dia no melhor país para o seu povo. Bestas celestes, o Brasil está mudando, está crescendo e evoluindo como nenhum outro país do planeta terra, o nosso presidente Lula, tem a simpatia de praticamente todos os outros países, estamos caminhando para a liderança da américa dos sul e quiçá, américa latina em breve, nossa moeda tem poder e é valorizada,pessoas e famílias inteiras que habitam em lugares que não são conhecidos por nenhum brasileiro nem mesmo pelas bestas celestes que aqui criticam, estão recebendo um dinheirinho do bolsa família, e conseguem se alimentar e alimentar seus filhos, todos nós sabemos que o valor desta ajuda é pequena, mas isso para quem mora em uma cidade não é nada e se gasta na padaria comprando cerveja, mas para essas famílais são verdadeiras fortunas que tiram a fome (coisa que nenhum de nós que escreve aqui deva ter sentido algum dia - eu nunca senti esta fome), além de tantas outras coisas que ficaram melhores, iremos promover a copa e as olimpíadas.
Mas as bestas celestes brasileiras acham que isso não é nada, e acho que só param de reclamar quando tiverem muito dinheiro no bolso, algum super carro na garagem, uma casa de praia e outra de campo e comer todos os dias a Giseli Bundchem!
E o povo? O povo? ahhh, esse povinho pobre tem mais é que limpar o meu quintal.

Que a força esteja com vocês!

hahahah! Confesso que uma coisa vcs tem de bom! Vocês me divertem!
Ah! Não escrevi em inglês, por que meu inglês é macarrônico. E como já dei munição demais para vocês reclamarem, achei melhor diminuir as reclamações!

Viva o Brasil! Vai Besta, pode falar também...aproveita que ninguém está vendo!

I can't believe how MALICIOUS the Brazilian Extreme Right (supporters of the former president Fernando Henrique CLEPToso) can be. He (Mangabeira Unger) later reneged on his silly/unfair statement ...and joined the LULA'S GOVERNMENT as a cabinet minister. DemoTucanalha IMBECILE!...Why don't you tell the truth? seeeeee!!! LYING AGAIN.
PS. Just say: I'm a racist, I'm a homophobe and an anti-semite SEPARATIST from SAO PAULO...if you don't...we already know you're, by reading your NONSENSE.

Latin America is one place that has benefited from the war on terror. During the Dick Cheney (sorry George W Bush) presidency the US concentrated all of its' resources on the Middle East and South Asia and left its' neighbours to the South to their own devices.

This has meant that the region has had a period of unprecedented political stability. OK Venezuela and Colombia have snarled at each other but apart from that there have been no military coups, no CIA meddling, no IMF interference in economic matters.

Peace and stability equal prosperity and nowhere has this been more obvious than in Brazil. Obama doesn't seem to be inclined to interfere so hopefully after another four or eight years, by which time the American adventure in South Asia will probably be over, Latin America will be strong enough to resist any future meddling from the North.

The exception to this is the recent coup in Honduras but we can hope that the rule of law is reasserted peacefully given time.

I liked your mention of the complaint from the British embassy. If a British politician or civil servant 'miss speaks' ie has too much to drink and says the wrong thing, the official record will usually record what he should have said not what he did say.

I'm Brazilian and it makes me really sad/ashamed to see so many Brazilians writing so many bad things about our country. I have lived in England for 3 years and what I found out is that ALL countries have their own problems, in different subjects and different levels. The difference between us and them is that we EXPORT our problems.We want to make sure the whole world gets to know what our weaknesses are and forget all the good things (yes, we have good things, such as a warm and friendly people, natural reources, amazing weather and food, and, most importantly, after this big recession that has had a big impact over the so called "developed" countries, here we hardly felt it.
My boyfriend is an English national and when he is asked by non-British people how England is doing with the recession his answer is: "oh, everything is fine!" Which is a big lie! But he says he doesnt want to let people know his countries problems.. and that's his culture, Brits love and protect their country. I was just wondering when we Brazilians will start doing it as well.