US President Barack Obama praised democracy Sunday in an address to the Brazilian people, at a time when the United States is involved in airstrikes on Libya and the Arab world is in flux as protesters demand freedom from their governments, dpa reported.
In a speech to 2,000 invited guests at Rio de Janeiro's Municipal theatre, Obama stressed that "democracy is the greatest partner of human progress."
"The millions in this country who have climbed from poverty into the middle class did not do so in a closed economy controlled by the state," he said. "You're prospering as a free people with open markets and a government that answers to its citizens. You're proving that the goal of social justice can best be achieved through freedom."
Obama noted that Cinelandia square in central Rio, where the Municipal theatre stands, was the site in 1968 of the first demonstrations against the dictatorship that ruled Brazil from 1964- 85.
"One of the young Brazilians in that generation's movement would go on to forever change the history of this nation. A child of immigrants, her participation in the movement led to her arrest, imprisonment and torture at the hands of her own government," he recalled.
"She knows what it is to overcome - because today, that woman is your nation's president, Dilma Rousseff."
In an address sprinkled with words in Portuguese, he played down recent disagreements between the United States and Brazil, under Rousseff's predecessor and mentor Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, and underlined the benefits of both nations "working together."
"Our countries have not always agreed on everything. And just like many nations, we will have differences of opinion going forward. But I am here to tell you that the American people don't just recognize Brazil's success - we root for it."
Outside the theatre, several hundred left-wing demonstrators shouted slogans against Obama and against his presence in Brazil. Inside, Obama stressed the need for Washington and Brasilia to "stand together - not as senior and junior partners, but as equal partners."
"I've come to speak of the values we share, the hopes we hold in common, and the difference we can make together," he said.
"The United States and Brazil are partners not just because we share a history or a hemisphere; not just because we share ties of commerce and culture; but because we share certain enduring values and ideals. We believe in the power and promise of democracy."
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