Full Text of Obama's Letter to Lula on Iran Nuclear Deal

In case you somehow managed to miss the background here; Brazil and Turkey reached a deal with Iran on a nuclear swap, declared victory, only to have the US criticize both the deal and the effort. Then followed a barrage of articles from supposed experts saying how Lula has tarnished his legacy and is coddling dictators. So, understandably pissed, Brazil leaked excerpts of a letter Obama had sent to Lula weeks before the deal that suggested all the major accomplishments of the Brazil/Turkey deal (widely ignored in the US press). But what was really in this mysterious letter? Well, here it is, click it to get a larger view, or click here to view original. Bottom line: Brazil wins and the US needs a towel to get the egg out their eyes.





(h/t to Toma Rosa Bueno who posted a link to a facsimile copy of the original letter in the comments section of Robert Naiman's Huff Post smackdown of Friedman that maladjusted linked to yesterday)

The Patent Breaker

Adding to the growing pile of evidence that Brazil don't take no shit, we get this, from Bloomberg:

Brazil will seek to break intellectual property rights on U.S.-made prescription drugs, music, books, software and movies in a bid to force the U.S. government to end cotton subsidies that violate global trade rules.

This is all because the US, while preaching free trade to the developing world has some of the largest agricultural subsidies in the world, depressing international prices and making it virtually impossible for developing countries to compete. Ya know, standard fare. In any case, the WTO ruled in Brazil's favor last year, and Brazil isn't going to take it lying down:

“We want to show the U.S. that it doesn’t matter if you are big or small, or how much money you have as a nation,” Lula said on March 10. “We all want to be respected and to be treated fairly.”

Amen.

Is Hillary Clinton the Geeky Kid From Grade School?

Hillary Clinton is in the midst of a tour of Latin America, making the rounds, doing the meet and greet thing, and of course, trashing Venezuela. But the most important stop was clearly Brazil, where the US is looking to gain support for UN sanctions against Iran. Well that went well; before Hillary could even get in the door, Lula had closed it:

"It is not prudent to push Iran against a wall," Silva told reporters hours before meeting with Clinton. "The prudent thing is to establish negotiations."

Foreign Minister Celso Amorim’s words were even stronger:

"We will not simply bow down to an evolving consensus if we do not agree," Amorim said. "We have to think by ourselves and with our values and principles."

Man, that has got to really hurt! First a regional grouping without the US, and now Brazil thinking by themselves! Based on values and principles! Not to worry Brazil, Hillary totally agrees with that. Today, while being as preachy as ever in telling Latin American countries that "they don't really ask much of themselves in order to produce the outcomes they say they seek," Hillary concluded by saying she was not interested in preaching, but that "It's a realistic and respectful relationship."

Speaking of realistic, by far the best comment from Hillary was during a town-hall (the State Department press release called it a “townterview”, no joke) type meeting in Brazil. Desperate as ever to make friends, Hillary let this fly:

"I believe that Brazil and the United States are the two countries more alike than any two countries in the world."

The response was pretty great also:

MS. BELTRAO: Why is that so?
SECRETARY CLINTON: Because we are big –
MS. BELTRAO: Oh, yeah. (Laughter.)
SECRETARY CLINTON: -- we are pluralistic. We are dynamic. We’re mostly happy.
MS. BELTRAO: Mostly.
SECRETARY CLINTON: We are two countries that have so much in common and I want to bring us closer together.

Ah yes, reminds me of those days in the school yard, where the geeky kid nobody likes keeps sucking up to the cool kid….only to be laughed at.