Brazil’s Lula may have ‘scored a goal’ on Iran ANALYSIS 05/19/2010

Brazil’s Lula may have ‘scored a goal’ on Iran

ANALYSIS 05/19/2010 BRASILIA — For admirers of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva — and there are many — the deal reached with Iran over its nuclear activities was a diplomatic triumph seized with high-stakes, last-minute flair. For the United States and its allies skeptical over Tehran’s track record of broken promises, though, the accord is a vexing problem, an obstacle to UN sanctions on Iran they had been pushing hard for. Lula himself crowed from Tehran that “diplomacy emerged victorious.” Unspoken but implied was that he had pulled off a coup in the last year of his mandate, boosting Brazil’s profile on the international stage to the stature it badly wants: that of a global player deserving of a permanent UN Security Council seat. “If Iran complies with this deal, Brazil will have scored a goal with its diplomacy,” opined one analyst to AFP, professor Marcelo Coutinho of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. Rubens Figuereido, a specialist at the University of Sao Paulo, agreed. “If the agreement is what they say it is, it’s a victory without precedent for Brazil because it’s the first time it has put itself at the forefront of the international diplomatic stage,” he said.... MORE   Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100519com3.html

COMMENTARY EDITORIAL Different Aquino dog, same Gloria collar FRONTLINE Empty threats ANALYSIS Brazil’s Lula may have ‘scored a goal’ on Iran MR. EXPOSE Proof of cheating mounts focus Underwater oil plumes could create new ‘dead zone’ in Gulf HE SAYS A Noynoy presidency SHE SAYS When the smoke clears