A New U.S.-Brazil Connection

When President Bush meets in Washington today with Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso, he can establish ties that will help the United States deal successfully with political instability in the Andean region. Though virtually invisible on Washington’s radar, Brazil is the fifth most populous country in the world, with an economy more than twice as large as Russia’s. As the leader of Mercosur, the common market of Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, it is an experienced free trader eager to widen its sphere. Strategically, Brazil shares borders with nine of the 11 other South American nations.

Cardoso, a onetime finance minister credited with taming inflation and now the region’s longest-serving president, can be helpful to Bush in preparing for the Summit of the Americas in Quebec next month, where the leaders of the hemisphere will discuss the feasibility of a free trade area across the Americas. The U.S. will need Brazil’s cooperation to avoid gridlock on issues ranging from security to trade.

Brazil did not always have such a low profile in the United States. During World War II it provided the U.S. with key bases for Atlantic operations. At the height of the Cold War, the U.S. supported the Brazilian military regime and assisted it in covering up many of the atrocities committed during the infamous Operation Condor, allegedly a CIA-supported operation, which was intended to eliminate suspected leftists. Later, the U.S. would turn away from its ally and criticize Brazil’s human rights record.

Bush has signaled his personal interest in better hemispheric relations and has made a good start with Mexico. Brazil, a solid if corruption-troubled democracy, also deserves more attention.

The United States needs Brazil, the largest country in South America, to expand trade in the hemisphere and to meet the challenges of the drug cartels and guerrillas in the Andean region. Brazil’s growing economy needs U.S. investors and increasing trade with the largest market in the hemisphere. There is mutual benefit aplenty.