US - Brazil through storms

(Baonghean) - Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff's visit to the US after nearly 2 years of delay has just ended, this is considered a positive step forward for the bilateral relationship that was overshadowed by the 2013 wiretapping scandal. This handshake can be said to have helped both the US and Brazil achieve many strategic goals.

Diplomatic incidents in 2013

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff's visit to the United States was planned by Washington several months ago. It is no coincidence that the Obama administration has taken such proactive diplomatic steps with Brazil. Originally planned since mid-2013, the visit was canceled after former CIA employee Edward Snowden revealed information about Washington's spying activities targeting Brazil. Accordingly, the US National Security Agency (NSA) secretly deployed spying throughout Latin America, monitoring millions of phone calls and emails of citizens in the region, including Brazil and Ms. Rousseff herself.

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff and President Barack Obama. Source: usnews.com

This unexpected bomb has caused the US-Brazil relationship to falter and fall into a period of crisis. Economic and trade cooperation between the two countries was negatively affected, many common international issues did not reach consensus, such as in the relationship with Venezuela. And of course, it also had a negative impact on the diplomatic strategy that President Obama has been promoting recently in the Latin American region. It can be said that this is a step backward in the US's efforts to improve relations with countries in the region. It was not until last April that the relationship between the two countries began to improve after the meeting between President Obama and President Rousseff on the sidelines of the Summit of the Organization of American States (OAS) held in Panama.

America gains many benefits

According to analysts, Ms. Rousseff's visit to the US this time seems to benefit the US more than Brazil. First of all, the invitation and warm welcome of President Rousseff has removed the US's dilemma towards the leading country in the Latin American region - which is considered the US's backyard. Second, working closely with Brazil will help improve the US's image in the context of Washington's gradually shrinking influence - stemming from the US's previous policies towards Cuba and Venezuela. Although Brazil is unlikely to have a large and direct influence on US interests, it has the potential to spread greatly in the South American region. And third, warmer relations with Brazil will help the US administration's recent foreign policy of improving relations with Latin America get back on track. Obviously, President Obama will be less than happy to be able to normalize relations with Cuba after half a decade of embargo, reduce tensions with Venezuela, but have problems with Brazil - the leading economy and a weighty voice in the region. Not only that, another motivation for the US to be eager to resolve tensions with Brazil is because it does not want its "old brother" to fall into the arms of other major countries such as Russia, Japan and especially the leading rival - China.

Indeed, the race to Latin America has never been so intense. A series of high-ranking leaders from many countries have flocked to this region, bringing with them "huge financial packages" to invest and pour aid. The strongest is China with hundreds of billions of USD committed to direct investment in the entire region in general and Brazil in particular. Right at the time Ms. Rousseff was visiting the US, Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang was also on an official visit to Brazil. And clearly, a deterioration in relations with Brazil would only be a single loss - a double loss for the US. Therefore, during his recent visit, speaking to the press after his meeting with Ms. Rousseff, President Obama affirmed that Brazil is a "power" and a "reliable and indispensable partner" in promoting security and US interests globally as well as in the Latin American region.

Brazil reaps investments

For Brazil, economics and trade are the biggest goals that the country is aiming for. Taking place in the context of the Brazilian economy facing many difficulties after 2 consecutive years of low growth, Ms. Rousseff's visit to the US is considered a very good opportunity to strengthen the confidence of American investors, thereby attracting capital for development. During the 4-day visit, Ms. Rousseff spent more than half of her time working with American companies and corporations to seek new business opportunities. At the White House, the two leaders discussed a series of important areas of cooperation, such as economics, trade - investment, building e-governments, digital economy, security and cybercrime. Notably, the US plans to invest in Brazil with a total value of 64 billion USD. In the field of tourism, the two sides agreed that from the beginning of 2016, they will waive visas for citizens of both countries. According to statistics, trade between the US and Brazil currently reaches more than 70 billion USD per year and the US is Brazil's second largest export market, after China. With the new agreements, this number is expected to increase.

In addition to focusing on improving economic cooperation, Ms. Rousseff also wants to enhance Brazil's position and role in bilateral relations with the US. In the context of Brazil becoming an increasingly active member of the BRICS multilateral mechanism - the Group of Emerging Economies, Ms. Rousseff will find it difficult to continue being overshadowed and under the "big shadow" of the US as before. The recent agreement between the two US and Brazilian leaders to promote cooperation, towards signing a global climate agreement at the United Nations conference held in Paris (France) at the end of this year, has partly demonstrated the role of responsible major countries in global issues. Through the agreements during this trip, it can be seen that more or less the strategic goals of President Rousseff and her counterpart Obama have been achieved; at the same time, bringing the US - Brazil relationship back to an orbit suitable to the current new context.

Phuong Hoa