Free Republic

US Ambassador Asks Brazil to Look at F-18's Quality Before a Final Decision 2010 - February 2010 Written by Marcos Chagas Tuesday, 09 February 2010 06:04 Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva once again stated that a final decision on the purchase of 36 fighter jets for the Brazilian Air Force has still not been made. He went on to say that the proposals by the three finalists remain under examination by the Ministry of Defense. "One thing we insist on is a commitment to unrestricted transfer of all cutting edge technology," said the president in an interview. Lula...

The Brazilian government has decided to acquire 36 Rafale fighter aircraft made by France's Dassault Aviation SA for $6.2 billion, local newspaper Folha de S. Paulo reported Thursday. The report cited an unnamed source close to the government as saying that the acquisition was decided by Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Defense Minister Nelson Jobim. Officials at the presidential palace and defense ministry couldn't be immediately reached for comment by Dow Jones Newswires. Earlier this year, the Brazilian Air Force concluded a technical report that evaluated proposals from Dassault, Sweden's Saab AB and Boeing Co.

At the delicate core of Julia's case is the queen's traditional role in Rio's Carnival: that of sexy muse. Unlike other participants, she is usually not bare-chested and wears more than just glitter. But queen costumes would be considered revealing by any estimation. Brazil has long had a problem with sexual exploitation of children, especially in the lawless Amazon region. Allowing Julia to be a drum corps queen "would increase the treatment of children as sexual objects in Brazilian society," said Carlos Nicodemos, director of the Rio de Janeiro state Council for the Defense of Children and Adolescents.

Homeschooling PEC in the Brazilian House of Representatives If approved, will Brazil have state homeschooling?  By Julio Severo  The Brazilian House of Representatives will examine PEC 444/09 (Proposal of Amendment to the Constitution 444/09), by Rep. Wilson Picler (PDT-PR), which authorizes homeschooling for students between the ages of 4 and 17. If approved in all the levels and committees, the same controls, oversight and bureaucracy of the public education will be imposed in the new educational modality.  Right in the style of communist governments, the Lula administration quickly approved in the end of the last year his own PEC, which...

The “unwanted” and the untruthfulness propaganda  Answering pro-abortion arguments of Brazilian newspaper Folha de S. Paulo  By Julio Severo  Everything begins in the mass propaganda, and the big media, which has a virtual monopoly of that propaganda, can provoke immense alterations in the mindset of the population. The Nazi propaganda czar used to say that a lie repeated a thousand times eventually becomes truth. Such repetition in the big media may turn in the popular mind hate into love and vice-versa, and death into life, and vice-versa.  However, the debate now no longer is about the life of the “unwanted”...

Royal Dutch Shell plans to make the biggest-ever foray into biofuels by an oil major, striking a deal with Brazil’s Cosan to form a $12-billion US ethanol joint venture that will be the No. 3 fuel distributor in Latin America’s largest country. The deal, announced Monday, marks Shell’s entry into ethanol production and follows moves by British oil company BP, which in 2008 took a stake in a big Brazilian biofuel project and unveiled $1 billion in investments. Cosan shares jumped 12 per cent in Sao Paulo, compared with a 1.7 per cent gain in the local Bovespa index. Shell...

PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil – Leftists who converged in Brazil to protest what they view as uncontrolled capitalism ended the World Social Forum on Friday with vows to take advantage of the financial crisis to promote a global socialist agenda. Activists at the annual countercultural gathering against the World Economic Forum under way at the Swiss ski resort of Davos said the meltdown proves the business titans attending the economic forum shouldn't be permitted to help reshape the global economy. About 30,000 people attended the 10th annual social forum .. They railed against unfettered capitalism they claimed is responsible for corporate...

You read that headline correctly. Unfortunately, the Obama Administration is financing oil exploration off Brazil. The U.S. is going to lend billions of dollars to Brazil's state-owned oil company, Petrobras, to finance exploration of the huge offshore discovery in Brazil's Tupi oil field in the Santos Basin near Rio de Janeiro. Brazil's planning minister confirmed that White House National Security Adviser James Jones met this month with Brazilian officials to talk about the loan. The U.S. Export-Import Bank tells us it has issued a "preliminary commitment" letter to Petrobras in the amount of $2 billion and has discussed with Brazil...

These are more "jobs Americans won't do," according to Publix supermarkets. In southwest Florida, where there's 14 percent unemployment, the supermarket chain is importing Brazilians and Peruvians on J-1 "cultural exchange" visas. Unbelievable. I'd boycott the chain if I lived down there.

Brazil on Tuesday opened the world’s first ethanol-fuelled power plant in an effort by the South American biofuels giant to increase the global use of ethanol and boost its clean power generation. State-run oil giant Petrobras and General Electric Co., which helped design the plant, are betting that increased use of ethanol generation by green-conscious countries will boost demand for the product. Brazil, the top global ethanol exporter, is already in talks with Japan to develop biofuels power generation there. “We have great expectations to show the viability and economy of generating electricity from . . . an alternative feedstock...

The world will become more dependent on OPEC oil beginning next year as the combined oil output from countries outside of the producer group begins to decline, the U.S. government said on Tuesday. The Energy Information Administration said in its new monthly forecast that non-OPEC oil supplies will not sustain the 630,000 barrel-per day-increase experienced in 2009. Output growth is expected to slow to 420,000 bpd this year when production reaches an average 50.7 million bpd and then decline by 140,000 bpd in 2011. This year's growth in non-OPEC output reflects new projects in Brazil, the United States and the...

<p>At least four Brazilian soldiers from a U.N. peacekeeping mission in Haiti were killed and a large number are missing in the Caribbean country's huge earthquake, a Brazilian army official said on Wednesday.</p> <p>General Carlos Barcellos of the Brazilian army told a news conference in the capital Brasilia that the total count of Brazilian soldiers missing or killed could be considerably higher because telephones are are down and road transportation is impossible due to wreckage.</p>

Brazil to choose France's Rafale jet-govt source 2:49pm EST * Lula to choose French Rafale jets for Brazil fleet * Brazil still seeking lower price for Rafale order * Air force prefers Swedish plane By Natuza Nery BRASILIA, Jan 11 (Reuters) - President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will choose the French-made Rafale jet as Brazil's next-generation fighter plane but wants to negotiate a lower price, a cabinet member told Reuters on Monday. Lula will opt to buy 36 Rafale multi-role aircraft made by France's Dassault Aviation despite the Brazilian Air Force's preference for the Gripen NG made by Sweden's...

Amazon explorers uncover signs of a real El Dorado Satellite technology detects giant mounds over 155 miles, pointing to sophisticated pre-Columbian culture Rory Carroll, Latin America correspondent guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 5 January 2010 19.08 GMT An aerial picture of traces of earthworks built by a lost Amazonian civilisation dating to 200AD. Photograph: National Geographic It is the legend that drew legions of explorers and adventurers to their deaths: an ancient empire of citadels and treasure hidden deep in the Amazon jungle. Spanish conquistadores ventured into the rainforest seeking fortune, followed over the centuries by others convinced they would find a lost...

Brazil Air Force prefers Swedish jets-report 8:59am EST BRASILIA, Jan 5 (Reuters) - The Brazilian Air Force would prefer to buy its next-generation fighter jets from Sweden, putting it at odds with President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's preference for French planes, media reported on Tuesday. The deal, which could initially be worth more than $4 billion, has sparked fierce competition among aircraft manufacturers. An Air Force report presented to Defense Minister Nelson Jobim said Sweden's Saab had presented the best overall project among the three finalists, Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper reported on Tuesday. The U.S.-made Boeing F18 was...

Natural disasters kill 60 in Brazil The death toll from the hotel tragedy on Ilha Grande, a resort island southwest of Rio, has risen to... Views today: 111Sorry, this video is no longer available.REPLAY VIDEORESCUERS have pulled more bodies from an avalanche of thick mud and rock that buried a luxury hotel filled with New Year revellers, one of several landslides in southern Brazil that have claimed about 60 lives. The death toll from the hotel tragedy on Ilha Grande, a resort island southwest of Rio, rose to 26 on Saturday. State officials said another landslide in the nearby city...

U.S. Diplomacy Stumbles in Latin America The Obama presidency was expected to herald closer ties after years of perceived neglect under Bush. But relations have soured amid the Honduran coup and Iran's increasing ties in the region. Paul Richter January 3, 2010 Reporting from Washington - Just eight months ago, President Obama was calling Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva "my man" and suggesting that the South American country could become a leading U.S. partner in the region. Since then, Brazil has criticized the U.S. approach to the coup in Honduras and warned the United States over plans to...

Sea Gripen landing on carrier (image : Scenium) Saab Touts Sea Gripen for India and Brazil Saab is responding to an Indian Navy (IN) request for information (RfI) regarding future carrier-capable fighters with a new development of the Gripen NG, dubbed the Sea Gripen. India's RfI, selectively released to bidders over recent weeks, seeks detailed information on a common aircraft design for conventional aircraft carrier operations and short take-off but arrested recovery (STOBAR) operations. Beyond the (much delayed) entry into service of the INS Vikramaditya (the rebuilt former Russian Navy vessel Admiral Gorshkov ), India has ambitious plans to build...

BRASILIA (Reuters) - The Brazilian Supreme Court's top judge ruled on Tuesday that Sean Goldman, the boy at the center of an international custody battle, must be reunited with his father and return to the United States, a press officer at the court told reporters.

Roubini: Latin America Will Have Killer Growth In 2010 Gus LubinDec. 21, 2009, 9:56 AM Although bearish for the U.S. economy, Nourel Roubini can't get enough of Latin America. To wit, he recently upgraded his growth outlook for Latin America in 2010 from 3.3 to 3.8. The economist explained this upgrade in an interview with the Americas Society: AS: What is behind this increasingly positive outlook for Latin America? Roubini: There are two things. One is that global economic and financial conditions are improving. There is a recovery of growth even if it’s going to be anemic. Commodity prices have...

"Oh, you are all here. I had some things to discuss with all of you so it’s good that you are together in the same room,” US President Barack Obama said as he strode into the room where the BASIC countries — Brazil, South Africa, India and China — were holding their last, intensive meetings in Copenhagen. “We really need a deal,” he said. “It’s better that we take one step forward rather than two steps back. I’m willing to be flexible.” And he rolled up his sleeves and sat down. Obama had come to meet China’s Wen Jiabao, in...

Note: The following text is a quote: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEThursday, December 17, 2009 Guyanese National Charged with Smuggling Indian Nationals to the United States A Guyanese national has been indicted on charges of conspiracy and alien smuggling in connection with her role in the smuggling or attempted smuggling of four Indian nationals to the United States. Annita Devi Gerald, aka Annita Rampersad, 52, was charged in a nine-count indictment returned yesterday by a federal grand jury in the Southern District of Texas. Gerald was arrested by ICE special agents in Houston on Nov. 17, 2009, and has been held without...

WASHINGTON -- After a day spent frantically darting around Copenhagen trying to locate world leaders, getting snubbed by China's premier and crashing a meeting where he had initially been kept out, President Obama heralded a last-minute, largely toothless UN global-warming summit deal that drew fast fire from all sides as a sham. Almost no one was happy with the outcome of the two-week confab and even the president, who was slammed by liberals and Republicans alike, along with other world leaders, admitted that the pact doesn't legally commit any of the nations involved -- the point of the summit in...

Southerners flee postwar woes to build lives in Brazil Plagued with economic ruin, psychological terror and personal tragedy at the end of the Civil War,many Southerners began to dis-cuss packing up their war-torn lives and emigrating to foreign lands as an antidote for their suffering. Southern diarist Mary Boykin Chesnut wrote about Confederate officers going to Mexico and Brazil,and Scarlett O'Hara twice considered the idea of fleeing to Latin America in the epic novel "Gone With the Wind." One Southern girl confided in her diary:"The men are all talking about going to Mexico and Brazil." Another addressed the same theme:...

Peru to purchase Chinese tanks and Brazilian fighter planes Peruvian president Alan García defended his government’s decision to purchase Chinese tanks and Brazilian fighter planes just a few weeks after accusing Chile of an arms race and proposing an initiative to limit military expenditure in the region. García who presented his anti arms initiative to the Union of South American Nations, Unasur, argued that the purchase of Chinese tanks is not incoherent with his country’s policy, since it is only geared to replenish an obsolete military arsenal. “This does not contradict our commitment to stop an arms race in the...

Brazil and Bolivia reacted strongly to the US message to Latinamerica about “flirting” with the Iran regime. Brazil is “minimizing” the Monday visit of a top US Department official and Bolivia said that it is sovereign and practices a “dialogue culture” with all countries. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last week warned Latinamerican countries “to think twice” about strategic alliances with Iran, which she described as the “world’s leading promoter and exporter of terrorism”. Last month Iranian president Mahmud Ahmadinejad was on an official tour of Brazil, Bolivia and Venezuela. The US and Israel are fearful of the Teheran...

Signs of what could be a previously unknown ancient civilisation are emerging from beneath the felled trees of the Amazon. Some 260 giant avenues, ditches and enclosures have been spotted from the air in a region straddling Brazil's border with Bolivia. The traditional view is that before the arrival of the Spanish and Portuguese in the 15th century there were no complex societies in the Amazon basin – in contrast to the Andes further west where the Incas built their cities. Now deforestation, increased air travel and satellite imagery are telling a different story."It's never-ending," says Denise Schaan of the...

Andres Oppenheimer of the Miami Herald wrote an intriguing piece recently on the splash effect of the coup, or crisis, or whatever term least offends someone of Honduras’ new leadership and recent election, and how the major powers in Latin America have tried unsuccessfully to remedy the situation. Oppenheimer argues that the US, Brazil and the OAS have all succeeded in failure in their own unique ways. Failure for the three comes as follows. For Brazil, its “hypocrisy” of recognizing Iran’s and Cuba’s undemocratic leadership, while criticizing Honduras’ recent elections. For the US, the “flip-flopping” that comes with a constant...

Honduras' deposed President Manuel Zelaya said on Sunday that he would stay in the Brazilian embassy in the Honduran capital for as long as Brasilia allowed him to and that he would be willing to talk to the new president-elect. Leftist Zelaya, who was ousted by the army in a coup on June 28, slipped back into Honduras in September and took refuge in the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa, from where he has been demanding his reinstatement. The United States and Brazil have been pushing for Zelaya's return to power but his fate remains uncertain after the Honduran Congress voted...

NEW DELHI/LONDON (Reuters) – China and other big developing nations rejected core targets for a climate deal such as halving world greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 just five days before talks start in Copenhagen, diplomats said on Wednesday. China, the world's top emitter, together with India, Brazil and South Africa demand that richer nations do more and have drawn "red lines" limiting what they themselves would accept, the diplomats told Reuters. The four rejected key targets proposed by the Danish climate talks hosts in a draft text -- halving global greenhouse gases by 2050, setting a 2020 deadline for a...

LONDON, Dec 2 (Reuters) - China, India, Brazil and South Africa oppose setting a goal of halving world greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 at a Copenhagen climate conference starting next week, European diplomats said on Wednesday. A document by the four big developing nations also said they opposed setting a goal of a global peak in emissions by 2020 and a target of limiting global warming to a maximum of 2 Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial times, they said. "The paper is defensive. It lays out the red lines for those emerging economies," one European diplomat with knowledge of the...

Robin Williams went out on a limb defending Chicago's Olympic bid, and now Rio de Janeiro wants to sue him. Williams told David Letterman during an appearance on the Late Show that he wasn't surprised Rio won the bid instead of Chicago. "Chicago sent Oprah and Michelle Obama," Williams said. "Rio sent 50 Strippers and a pound of blow. It wasn't really fair, you know?" Williams' comments have been replayed several times on news shows across Brazil on Tuesday, while city mayor Eduardo Paes says Williams is envious of Rio's achievement.

Honduras' disputed presidential election is likely to set Washington against emerging Latin American power Brazil over whether to recognize the winner of a vote promoted by the leaders of a June coup. Conservative opposition leader Porfirio Lobo easily won the election on Sunday, but he will struggle to get recognition in Latin America where many leftist governments see the election as a nail in the coffin of ousted President Manuel Zelaya. The United States has tried and failed to have Zelaya, a leftist, reinstated and now looks resigned to backing the election as the best way for Honduras' to get...

Note: The following text is a quote: Former State Department Official and Wife Arrested for Serving as Illegal Agents of Cuba for Nearly 30 Years Couple Allegedly Conspired to Provide Classified Information to Cuban Government A former State Department official and his wife have been arrested on charges of serving as illegal agents of the Cuban government for nearly 30 years and conspiring to provide classified U.S. information to the Cuban government. The arrests were announced today by David Kris, Assistant Attorney General for National Security; Channing D. Phillips, Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia; Joseph Persichini, Jr.,...

Brazilian Jewish teenagers this week protested what they called their "exclusion" from a national exam for high school graduates set to take place on Shabbat, after a Brazilian court said providing Jews with an alternative date would "undermine equality." "In some areas in Brazil, such a Rio de Janeiro, observant Jewish students cannot apply to some of the leading universities," said Alex Kingel, 17, from Sao Paulo, who will not be taking the test. Kingel explained that because Rio de Janeiro's leading university is a federal one - funded by the central government - applicants must take the test, known...

Brazil's president says "gringos" should pay Amazon nations to prevent deforestation, insisting rich Western nations have caused much more past environmental destruction than the loggers and farmers who cut and burn trees in the world's largest tropical rain forest. "I don't want any gringo asking us to let an Amazon resident die of hunger under a tree," Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said ahead of an Amazon summit. "We want to preserve, but they will have to pay the price for this preservation because we never destroyed our forest like they mowed theirs down a century

Brazil's president said Thursday that "gringos" should pay Amazon nations to prevent deforestation, insisting rich Western nations have caused much more past environmental destruction than the loggers and farmers who cut and burn trees in the world's largest tropical rain forest. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva made the comments just before an Amazon summit in which delegates signed a declaration calling for financial help from the industrial world to halt the deforestation that causes global warming. "I don't want any gringo asking us to let an Amazon resident die of hunger under a tree," Silva said. "We want to...

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad vowed Wednesday beside firebrand President Hugo Chavez that Iran and Venezuela would "stand together until the end" in the face of US "imperialism." Ending a tour of Latin American allies, Ahmadinejad praised his "brave brother" Chavez, saying: "Today the people of Venezuela and Iran, friends and brothers in the trench warfare against imperialism, are resisting. "We'll stand together until the end," he yelled, raising Chavez's hand in front of the television cameras and shouting in Spanish: "Viva Venezuela! Viva Chavez!" Before arriving in Caracas late Tuesday Ahmadinejad was in Bolivia, where he and President Evo Morales,...

BRASILIA (Agencies) – Brazilian President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva has offered his backing for Tehran’s nuclear program. Speaking at a joint news conference in the capital Brasilia on Monday after holding talks with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, his visiting Iranian counterpart, Lula said Brazil backed Iran’s quest for “peaceful nuclear energy in full respect of international accords”. According to Al-Jazeera, Lula urged Ahmadinejad to “continue contacts with interested countries for a just and balanced solution on the nuclear issue in Iran”. In his weekly radio address earlier, Lula said engaging Iran instead of isolating it was the way to push for...

THIS outrageous footage shows Miss Gay Brazil being attacked by a jealous rival. The competition winner was being interviewed by TV crews when a losing contestant ran up behind her and pulled her wig clean off. She then storms off - quickly pursued by the competition winner's angry entourage.

Ahead of Iranian president's arrival in country, protestors from pro-Israel organizations and groups for homosexuals' rights gather in Rio de Janeiro, urge Brazilian president to teach his guests that 'racism is a crime'. Thousands of demonstrators from different religions took part Sunday in a march for peace and against Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, on Ipanema beach in Rio de Janeiro. Faced with mounting pressure over his country's atomic ambitions, Ahmadinejad left on a five nation tour Sunday, in a bid to boost ties with Latin America's biggest economy and a rare backer of Tehran's nuclear program.

Brazil sparks wider currency control fears By Peter Garnham Published: November 19 2009 11:37 | Last updated: November 19 2009 11:37 Asian currencies came under pressure on Thursday as a move from Brazil to further curb foreign inflows sparked fears that other countries would follow suit. Brazil moved overnight to close a loophole that had allowed investors to avoid a 2 per cent tax on foreign investment in equities and bonds announced last month. The government announced a 1.5 per cent tax on American Depositary Receipts. Guido Mantega, Brazil’s finance minister, said some foreign investors had been buying ADRs to...

Within minutes, six-year-old Rubjit Thindal went from happily chatting in the back seat of the car to collapsing and dying in her father's arms. "If we had known it was so serious, we would have called 911,'' Kuldip Thindal, Rubjit's distraught mother, said in Punjabi yesterday. "She just had a stomach ache -- she wasn't even crying.'' Rubjit was pronounced dead at hospital barely 24 hours after showing signs of a fever. Later, doctors told her parents she had the H1N1 influenza virus. She is believed to be the youngest person in Canada with the virus to have died.

This week's 60 Minutes broadcast should make everyone afraid, very afraid, of the real, looming specter of cyberwarfare attacks. As I recently blogged, government agencies are already going full-bore to come up with guidelines to protect federal networks. So when an Admiral goes on national television to say hackers have the ability to take down our power grid, he's doing it to deliver a warning. I was actually poised to turn off the segment, which I happened upon by accident following Sunday's last-minute Giants loss. Half-expecting the usual security for dummies piece, I was surprised to see an unusually detailed...

RIO DE JANEIRO — A massive power failure blacked out Brazil's two largest cities and other parts of Latin America's biggest nation for more than two hours late Tuesday, leaving millions of people in the dark after a huge hydroelectric dam suddenly went offline. Paraguay was also affected when the Itaipu dam straddling the two nations' border stopped producing 17,000 megawatts of power, resulting in outages in Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and at least several other big Brazilian cities, Brazilian Mines and Energy Minister Edison Lobao said. The cause of the failure had not been determined, but Lobao said...

<p>RIO DE JANEIRO — Brazil's two largest cities have been hit by a massive blackout that has also affected other parts of Latin America's largest nation.</p> <p>Media reports say problems at a huge hydroelectric dam are to blame for the electrial outages affecting large parts of Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and other cities in several states.</p>

Swine flu has hit an isolated tribe of Indians in the Amazon jungle, with seven dying in the last two weeks, Survival International said on Wednesday. A further 1,000 members of the Yanomami tribe in Venezuela are believed to have caught the flu, the indigenous peoples rights group said. It is feared the flu could sweep through the area and kill many more Yanomami as the Indians have little resistance to introduced diseases. About 32,000 Yanomami live in the Venezuela-Brazil border region and form the largest relatively isolated tribe in the Amazon. Survival director Stephen Corry said the situation was...

When Islamists made their roots south of the border... Venezuela's dictator: H. Chavez that "sees" only money, oil and Anti-Americanism-Power, does "serve" the Islamic Iranian Republic well, giving out passports to anyone. From that "port" it is quite easy for an Islamic Iranian AGENT to arrive into any other Latin American country as a... "Venezuelan". A "random" different case (of a Muslim trying to "blend" into Latin America), a year ago, a Jordanian Arab that "met" a Costa Rican (Tica) girl in Spain (she vouched for him in CR, asw this man came from the area in Jordan where a...

Educational slavery for four-year-old children Trojan horse in the Brazilian Congress alters Constitution to establish compulsory institutionalization of young children By Julio SeveroCongressional measure PEC 96A/03, which increases the education budget, was approved 28 October 2009 in the Brazilian Senate. The vote had the participation of 52 senators, who unanimously approved the budget increase — an increase that will cause more sacrifices from the pocket of the Brazilian taxpayer.Yet, it is not just in their pockets that Brazilians will be hit. PEC (which means Proposta de Emenda à Constituição [Constitutional Amendment Proposal]) makes, according to the liberal newspaper Folha de...

SNIPPET: "Lula and Chavez have established a "strategic relationship," and recently agreed upon a joint Brazilian-Venezuelan oil venture worth billions of dollars. Lula and Chavez have joined with Daniel Ortega, the returned Nicaraguan Marxist dictator, to form an anti-U.S. Latin American military alliance - all with Russian assistance - funded by the region's abundant oil reserves. Brazil is engaged in its own arms build-up and Lula is determined that Brazil will become at least a first-rate regional power. Unfortunately, Lula is establishing Brazil as an anti-American military power by aligning with nations hostile or potentially hostile to the U.S. Lula...