Ambassador Roberto Pinto Ferreira Abdenur Brazil Struggling to Define U.S. Relationship by Larry Luxner Entering the spacious office of Roberto Pinto Ferreira Abdenur, Brazilís new ambassador in Washington, the first thing you notice are the knick-knacksódozens of them. Typical of these keepsakes is a 1978 Bank of Guyana medallion displayed on a glass table, next to a bronze key to the city of Coral Gables, Fla. Near the ambassadorís desk is a scale model of a Brazilian-made Embraer jet, while on a special pedestal sits a beautiful inlaid copper vase commemorating the launching of CBERS, the China-Brazil Earth Resources Satellite. Off to a cornerówatching over the whole collectionóis a small bronze statue of JosÈ Maria da Silva Paranhos, the baron of Rio Branco and unofficial patron of Brazilian Foreign Service officers. ìI am a career diplomat with no political affiliation,î Abdenur proudly noted in an interview with The Washington Diplomat last month. ìOur foreign ministry was never politicized, even during the military dictatorship. I am not a member of any political party and never will be.î Like 6 million other Brazilians, Abdenur has Arab roots. His father was a Maronite Christian from the Lebanese town of Hamdun, while his motherís family came from Portugal. He grew up in Rio de Janeiroóin the days when it was still Brazilís capital cityóand joined the Foreign Service at age 21. His first overseas assignment, in 1969, was at the Brazilian consulate-general in London. Four years later, Abdenur got his first taste of official Washington, when he was named first secretary at the Brazilian Embassy. Since then, heís held a number of high-level positions within the Ministry of External Relations and has served as Brazilís ambassador to Ecuador (1985-88), China (1989-93), Germany (1995-2002) and Austria (2002-04), before finally returning to Washington as ambassador to the United States just three months ago. Along the way, the distinguished diplomat with a calm, professorial demeanor got married, had three children and picked up four languagesóSpanish, English, French and Germanóin addition to his native Portuguese. Despite his lack of party affiliation, Abdenur, 62, makes no secret of his admiration for his boss, President Luiz In·cio ìLulaî da Silva. The longtime leader of Brazilís left-leaning Workersí Party (known by its Portuguese initials PT) was swept into office last year on a wave of discontent with his predecessor, Fernando Henrique Cardoso. ìLula is very well regarded and respected,î the ambassador says. ìI met him for the first time in 1998, while serving in Berlin. Lulaís party came out of the trade union movement in resistance to Brazilís military dictatorship. The PT is very much based on human rights, labor rights, transparency and openness to dialogue. Some people even criticize the party for being too open.î The Washington establishment, however, long viewed Lula as a dangerous populistóa reputation reinforced by his close friendship with Cubaís Fidel Castro. Although Lulaís traditional opposition to big business has made him popular among Brazilís poor, it also alienated him from the countryís middle and upper classes, which helps to explain why he never managed to win a presidential election until now. ìLula had a solid political basis of about 30 percent of the electorate, but that was not enough to win,î says Abdenur. ìThis time around, he came up with a political platform which was more in keeping with the mood prevailing in Brazil: ëNoí to inflation, a more stable economy, a more open economy, and the idea of combining economic prudence and pragmatism with added emphasis on social equality.î Abdenur says his appointment and the departure of previous ambassador Rubens Barbosa are ìin no wayî related to the recent change of government in Brazil. Barbosa, who served in Washington for nearly four years, has since returned to S?o Paulo, where he advises multinational companies on global trade issues (see page A-20). Like his predecessor, Abdenur also knows a thing or two about trade. During his four and a half years in Beijing, the diplomat helped to develop Chinaís economic relationship with Brazil, to the point where China now vies with Argentina for the position of Brazilís number-two trading partner (after the United States). ìThe growth in Brazilian exports to China, and to a lesser extent our imports from China, is remarkable,î Abdenur says. ìNo one could be happier about Lulaís recent trip to China than I. Our bilateral relationship is going beyond the exchange of products. China is beginning to make important investments in our transportation infrastructure, and we are cooperating closely on science and technology.î Thatís a far cry from 100 years ago, when Brazil was seen only as a source of cheap crops, such as sugar and coffee. ìIndustrialization surged forward after World War II with the construction of our first steel mill outside Rio de Janeiro,î the ambassador explains. ìUnlike the U.S., in Brazil the government had to act as an entrepreneur. It was thanks to the founding of great state-owned companies like Petrobras [oil], Telebras [communications] and CVRD [mining] that Brazil successfully launched the far-reaching process of industrialization.î However, Abdenur adds, ìWe only managed to launch this industrialization drive thanks to high tariff walls to protect these infant companies from foreign competition. This made Brazil, at that point in time, a very attractive destination for foreign investors.î Yet Abdenur concedes that this model eventually became outdated, and that the Brazilian government was late in realizing that it had no choice but to slash the role of the state as an entrepreneur and catalyst for investment. ìUntil less than 10 years ago, the telecom sector in Brazil was a disaster,î he says. ìThanks to privatization, Brazil is now one of the worldís fastest-growing markets for cellular telephony.î Those are strange words for a diplomat appointed by one of Brazilís loudest opponents of privatization. But then again, says Abdenur, ìItís one thing when youíre in the opposition. Itís another thing when youíre in government.î In keeping with Lulaís new fondness for foreign investment, on June 23 the president met in New York with nearly 500 top U.S. executives in the telecom, energy, infrastructure, manufacturing, agribusiness and service sectors in a conference organized by Abdenur. ìBrazil is deeply committed to opening its borders and becoming more engaged in world trade. Although Brazil is one of the 10 biggest economies in the world, we have only 1 percent of world exports, which is ridiculously low,î Abdenur says. Just as the United States dominates North America, Brazil is by far the largest economy of South America. Its 184 million people represent 53 percent of South Americaís population, and its gross domestic product of $594 billion is more than half of South Americaís total gross domestic product. Therefore, itís only natural that the two giants would have strong business ties. For starters, the United States is the largest foreign investor in Brazil, with about $26.3 billion in bilateral trade last year. About 420 of the top 500 U.S. corporations have factories or other operations in Brazil, and the United States buys more than 25 percent of Brazilís exports, about the same as the entire European Union. The top Brazilian exports to the United States include civilian airplanes, cellular phones, footwear, fuel oils, automotive engines and auto parts. In addition, Brazilian companies have started investing heavily in the United States. Two large construction conglomerates, Odebrecht and Andrade Gutierrez, are involved in a number of U.S. projects, while Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer has sold more than 750 planes to U.S. airlines. Last month, JetBlue Airways ordered 100 new Embraer-190 jets, with options for an additional 100 planes. Embraer values the contract at $3 billion, with a potential value of $6 billion if all options are exercised. ìThe United States is obviously a country of enormous importance to Brazil, and I think there is a commonality of convergence,î Abdenur says. ìWe share many of the same concerns and priorities, and we coincide to a large extent on how to go about many international issues and the goals to be achieved: a more secure world, the need to tackle the issue of terrorism and the need to make the international system work better.î Yet one of the biggest issues dividing the United States and Brazil is how to proceed with the planned Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA)óan ambitious plan to gradually eliminate tariffs and duties among 34 countries in the Western Hemisphere. If the FTAA should ever come to pass, it would create an enormous free-trade zone stretching from Alaska in the north to Tierra del Fuego in the South, encompassing every nation in the region except Cuba. ìAs it stands now, there will be four stages. First, some products could be tariff-exempt instantly, others within a period of five years, others in 10 years, and a few sensitive products over a longer period,î explains Abdenur. ìOne of the major areas which weíre negotiating with the U.S. is how to tackle market access within the FTAA. Thatís the crux of the matter.î He denies, however, that this represents a power struggle between Washington and Brasilia. ìBrazil is a major player in the FTAA process. We are tough negotiators,î the ambassador says. ìWhen we say weíre in favor of free trade, it doesnít mean weíll throw our borders open to imports of foreign goods overnight, without having due reciprocity.î What irks the Brazilians, he says, is that in the beginning stages of the FTAA negotiating process, the United States pushed for the adoption of World Trade Organization rules and norms in four specific areas: services, investments, government procurements and intellectual property rights. ìAt the same time, the U.S. said it was not ready to negotiate its anti-dumping legislation, which is one of the major obstacles preventing Brazilian products from getting into the U.S. market. Neither is it ready to negotiate agricultural subsidies. We cannot accept this.î Another thing Abdenur cannot accept is Washingtonís restrictive new visa procedures for Brazilians hoping to travel to the United Statesóa consequence of post-9/11 security concerns. ìWhen the U.S. first came up with these procedures required for foreign visitors, this led to a big outcry in Brazil,î he says. ìIf a Brazilian living thousands of miles from the nearest U.S. consulate wants to travel to the United States, he has to present himself in person at the American consulate in S?o Paulo to apply for the visa. He has to spend $100 for each person and submit to inquiry proving where he lives. He then flies back home to wait for a reply, and only then if he gets the visa can he travel to the U.S. This is extremely burdensome and annoying to many people.î The situation is made even worse by the fact that besides the U.S. Embassy in Brasilia, there are only three U.S. consulates in Brazilóa country nearly as big as the continental United States. These are located in Rio de Janeiro, S?o Paulo and Recife. In comparison, Brazil has consulates in Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York and San Francisco, and issues five-year tourist visas by mail for a $100 fee. But thatís not all. ìThere are many unpleasant stories about Brazilians with visas being sent back [by U.S. immigration officials],î Abdenur says. ìWe Brazilians justifiably feel very much offended at the fact that we have been discriminated against, while 27 other countriesósome of which are not particularly friendly to the U.S.óare exempt from those same stringent requirements.î Abdenur concedes that the United States is worried about possible terrorist activity being financed from the ìtriple borderî area where Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay meet. This region, which centers on the Brazilian city of Foz do Iguacu, is heavily populated by Arabs of Lebanese originólike Abdenur himselfóand many of them are deeply involved in the contraband business for which the area is well-known. ìThere is a suspicion that Muslim residents of this area who arrived more recently might be sending money to Hamas, but thereís never been any concrete evidence of anything implying terrorism,î Abdenur says. ìWe keep this area under scrutiny, and of course we are working hand in hand with U.S. authorities on the whole issue of illegal financial remittances and money laundering.î Nevertheless, in an act of reciprocityósome say patriotic vengeanceóthe Brazilian government now requires all U.S. airline passengers arriving in Brazil to be photographed and fingerprinted. That has upset not only the Americans themselves but also Brazilian hoteliers, tour operators and others who depend on the revenues tourism brings, especially in Rio de Janeiro, since around 600,000 Americans travel to Brazil every year. Abdenur says the Brazilian-American relationship is too important to be endangered by petty disputes. ìAlthough the U.S. has legitimate security reasons to be strict, we should discuss this in a more constructive way, so that over time, the cost and discomfort of traveling between the two countries is reduced to the lowest level possible,î he urges. ìWhat is happening now is very damaging to the long-term interests of both countries.î Larry Luxner is a contributing writer for The Washington Diplomat.