Written by Cristovam Buarque, University of Brasilia
Sunday, 20 March 2011 16:25
...They have ideas about and sensitivity to worldwide problems. In addition, as a black man and as a woman, they share a biopolitical genesis different from their predecessors. This gives them new sensibilities and positions in relation to the future.
President Obama's visit to Brazil and his dialogue with President Dilma, therefore, give us the hope that the meeting will produce something historical and will not merely be another friendly diplomatic gesture.
In the first place, we should perceive their mutual greatness if we remember that it is the first time that a U.S. president has come to Brazil before his Brazilian colleague visited the United States. But to leave their mark on history the two presidents must transform the Encounter into a Summit Meeting of two global statespeople, defining a common agenda for world problems....
The two presidents need to place at least three other topics on the agenda: the struggle against poverty, recalling President Dilma's statement that "a rich world is a world without poverty"; the subordination of the economy to ecological equilibrium; and the defense of human rights.http://www.brazzil.com/component/content/article/230-march-2011/10469-what-world-should-expect-from-obama-a-dilma-the-end-of-poverty-through-education.html