HAVANA, Cuba, Jan 19 (acn) Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said that Barack Obama has the opportunity to look at Latin America from a democratic perspective, following his inauguration as US President on Tuesday.
Lula called on the United States to change its relations with Latin America and lift the fifty-year US economic, financial and commercial blockade of Cuba.
In his usual Monday radio statement, the Brazilian President said that for quite a long time now, Washington has maintained a wrong policy towards Latin America, and has also participated in several coup attempts in the region, PL news reported from the capital Brasilia.
Lula suggested that Washington should practice a preferential policy that favors the development of Latin American and Caribbean countries. There is no reason for the United States to uphold its blockade of Cuba, so that the island nation may enjoy a normal life as the rest of nations, he pointed out.
Brazil will maintain its historically good relations with the United States, and those links could further improve if that is in the interest of the new US president, Lula said.
Obama will take office in a sensitive circumstance and he must solve the financial crisis, which rose in his country and causes huge damage to the poor, Lula pointed out and went on to note that the new US President will also have to take a competent decision as to the Middle East if he wants to contribute to peace in that region, since the conflict continues to aggravate while a peace accord will largely depend on US policy.
Lula said that Obama will have to take the initiative in favor of an agreement at the Doha Negotiations, in the context of the World Trade Organization, because amidst the serious crisis, it would translate into significant help for poor nations whose economies depend on agriculture.
The United States has not yet signed the Kyoto Protocol, which is so important for all to contribute to climate awareness and the lowering of gas emissions that cause global warming, said the Brazilian President.
From the Cuban News Agency
