Brazil Tries To Rebuild Relations With U.S. After NSA Spying Scandal
Brazil Tries To Rebuild Relations With U.S. After NSA Spying Scandal
"From the White House perspective, President Dilma Rousseff’s visit is a chance to re-energize a very important relationship on trade and investment," points out COA’s Eric Farnsworth.
It's rare that a world leader will cancel a planned state visit to the White House, but that's what happened two years ago when Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff found out that the U.S. had been spying on her and her top aides.
The Brazilian leader is now trying to let bygones be bygones, and is in Washington, D.C., to visit with President Obama.
Rousseff's decision to cancel the state visit — with its formal dinners and high-profile meetings — threw a strong and robust bilateral relationship into disarray, says Eric Farnsworth of the Council of the Americas and Americas Society.
"It's been very clear that the United States has been anxious to move beyond that," Farnsworth says. "Vice President Biden in particular has been in direct contact with President Rousseff and senior members of her team for a long time...."
