Lula keeps Venezuela high on his to-do list

www.globeandmail.com Associated Press

Rio de Janeiro — After only two weeks in office, Brazil's new president is indicating he is ready to shepherd through big changes — both at home, where he's raising hope for the poor, and abroad, where he wants his nation to take a greater role in international affairs.

Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is scheduled to meet Wednesday with other Latin American leaders in Ecuador to form a “Group of Friends of Venezuela” aimed at resolving the crisis that has divided that country and crippled oil production in the world's fifth largest petroleum exporter.

Before leaving for Quito, Mr. da Silva plans to meet with Argentine President Eduardo Duhalde in Brasilia to discuss regional trade and the terms of a proposed hemispheric free trade zone.

Such an intense international presidential schedule is unprecedented in Brazil, where diplomatic efforts traditionally proceed at a snail's pace.

“He is creating a sense of movement,” said Stephen Haber of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. “He has promised lots of change, and if he sits around and doesn't do much in the first 100 days, those expectations are dashed.”

Analysts say Mr. da Silva's rapid pace is even more striking coming so soon after last week's two-day trip to desperately poor areas in the country's northeast as part of his goal of reducing the hunger that affects between 20 and 44 million people in the nation of 175 million citizens.

“This activism in Brazil's diplomacy is new,” said William Goncalvez, a political analyst at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.

But it seems in line with Mr. da Silva's pledge to bring about changes for how Brazil is viewed domestically and internationally, and in keeping with signs in recent years that the country wants to play in the major leagues of foreign policy while developing new programs to help the country's poor.

In late December, Mr. da Silva sent one of his closest aides to Venezuela on a fact-finding mission that developed into the idea of creating a group of Latin American and European countries to assist mediation already under way by the Organization of the American States.

Foreign Minister Celso Amorim said Monday that Mr. da Silva is concerned about Venezuela and wants neighboring countries to help find a peaceful solution to the strike aimed at ousting Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

Some analysts believe Silva is also shaping a message to Washington — suggesting that the United States cannot impose its policies in the region.

“His goal is to signal that Brazil intends to be a leader, which given its economy and population makes perfect sense,” Mr. Haber said. “To the United States he is signaling that we are going to have an activist foreign policy not dictated by you to us.”

But Mr. da Silva is well aware that he must maintain an image showing he is dealing with pressing domestic issues. Just days after being inaugurated, he delayed for at least a year a $760-million (U.S.) plan to order 12 jet fighters needed by Brazil's air force.

In doing so, Mr. da Silva made it clear that his main funding priority for Brazil is the hunger eradication program. He even suggested that young Brazilian diplomats should regularly visit the Brazilian slums known as favelas — so they will learn about poverty firsthand and can better defend Brazil's interests abroad.