Lula, Obama to build on good vibe of G20 summit

Apr 14, 2009, 14:35 GMT

Buenos Aires - The Summit of the Americas that is set to start Friday in Trinidad and Tobago will at least begin in an atmosphere of trust and friendliness, a great deal better than the last one in late 2005 in Mar del Plata.

The continent's undisputed leaders - US President Barack Obama and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva - appear to be getting on great after two meetings, if their comments following the G20 summit in London earlier this month are anything to go by.

'I love this guy! He's the most popular politician on Earth,' Obama said of Lula at that meeting.

Lula returned the compliment.

'I am a fan of Obama. He is the first US president who has our face. If you ran into him in Bahia you would think he's from there,' the Brazilian said.

The exchange of praise may to some extent be circumstantial, yet further evidence of the kind of personal diplomacy that both men clearly thrive in. However, it is also a broader sign of the general atmosphere in Latin America around the start of the Obama Administration in Washington.

Having him in the White House is 'an opportunity for Latin America to build a relationship with the United States that it did not have before,' Lula said.

The most immediate precedent of the gathering in Trinidad and Tobago, the Summit of the Americas in November 2005 in the Argentine resort city of Mar del Plata, was about as close as you can get to a diplomatic disaster for the United States.

That summit effectively marked the end of the Washington-sponsored Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) and laid bare the profound differences between the Mercosur trade alliance led by Brazil and the rest of Latin America when it came to ties with the northern giant.

Host Argentina, regional giant Brazil and emerging oil-power Venezuela prevented the FTAA from moving forward. In the end, there was an agreement to disagree, with a final declaration that portrayed both sides of a neat regional divide.

The rest of the continent, led by the US and with the support of 28 other of the 34 countries at the summit including regional heavyweight Mexico, agreed to press on with efforts toward a hemispheric free-trade zone.

Years later, however, the FTAA is basically dead: it is not even on the agenda. And Brazil has massively built on its regional leadership.

First, it became a leader of agricultural nations around the world in the push to impose conditions on developed countries at the Doha Round of talks at the World Trade Organization (WTO), now long stalled over agricultural subsidies.

Then, the global economic and financial crisis boosted emerging economies onto the main international diplomatic stage. The first summit ever of the Group of 20 (G20) last year - a 10-year-old group that had only ever met at the ministerial level or lower - set the United States and Brazil and their current leaders Obama and Lula as partners and allies in the design of a new world order.

'That's my man, right here,' Obama said, gesturing to the Brazilian in London.

The Americas have undoubtedly come a long way since 2005 - or at least since Obama was inaugurated three months ago.

His arrival appears to have stripped Washington of much of its arrogance and stubbornness, and it appears to have made his Latin American counterparts set aside a major portion of their mistrust and their criticism of Washington policies.

The global crisis, moreover, has joined domestic political trouble to deprive the loud Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez of some of his oil-funded international presence.

Chavez, a relentless critic of US policy, has also criticized Obama. However, his discourse has been very mild compared to that he used against Bush, whom he called a 'murderer' and even 'the devil' at various times.

The tone of any dialogue between the United States and Latin America has undoubtedly changed, and both parties appear willing to start work on a clean slate.

It remains to be seen whether they are able to draft on that slate, in Trinidad and Tobago and beyond, the basis of a new order for the Americas.