Brazilian President Defends
Foreign Policy Despite "Jealousy"
RIO DE JANEIRO - Brazilian President Luiz
Inacio Lula da Silva said Tuesday his
administration's foreign policy enhanced
Brazil's importance in the international
arena, but also stirred up jealousy.
"When a country gets important, it stirs up
jealousy. Those who were not capable of
doing what you did get jealous," Lula said
at a graduation ceremony of Brazil's newest
diplomats.
Lula said Brazil had been severely
criticized for focusing on strengthening its
ties with South American, Asian and African
countries. But he believes boosting
South-South trade is important.
The president also said it is necessary to
stop thinking that countries in the North
are more important than those in the
Southern hemisphere.
"The North is not so big and the South is
not as little as people think it is," he
said.
Lula recalled that Brazil recently managed
to win a long-standing trade dispute over
U.S. subsidies to cotton growers. The World
Trade Organization authorized Brazil to
impose sanctions of 830 million U.S. dollars
on the United States.
At the ceremony, Foreign Minister Celso
Amorim also stated Brazil's position on the
Iranian nuclear issue.
Amorim said Brazil maintains its stance
against the sanctions the United States
wants to impose on Iran, preferring a
negotiated solution to the matter.
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