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Obama woos Brazil as Libya looms

 US President Barack Obama wooed Brazil on Saturday, hailing the country's global prominence at the start of a Latin American trip overshadowed by military strikes in Libya.

Obama, who hopes to cement economic ties and drum up business for US firms, noted Brazil's "extraordinary rise" to global power and said the United States wants to become one of Brazil's "best customers" when it starts selling oil.

But the first day of what is expected to be Obama's signature first-term trip within the Western Hemisphere was overshadowed by the Libya crisis.

The United States and Britain launched more than 100 missiles on Libyan air-defence targets in an effort to prevent Muammar Gaddafi forces from crushing a month-old uprising against his rule.

Brazil, however, was one of five countries that abstained from the UN Security Council vote that authorised the use of "all necessary means" to protect Libyan civilians.

President Dilma Rousseff took the occasion to lobby for South America's largest nation to obtain a permanent Security Council seat in the world's most important decision-making body.

"I am equally concerned with the slow pace of the reforms in the multilateral institutions that still reflect an old world," said Rousseff, echoing an opinion held by other emerging countries.

Obama did not endorse the Brazilian position but pledged to "continue our efforts to make sure that the new realities of the 21st century are reflected in international institutions."

"The United States is going to keep working with Brazil and other nations on reforms that make the Security Council more effective, more efficient, more representative," he said.

Rousseff welcomed her counterpart to the presidential palace with a 21-gun salute, and the two signed an agreement aimed at reducing trade barriers and facilitating bilateral investment.

"We seek more fairness and balanced trade relations," Rousseff said. "For us it's fundamental that we should break away from the barriers that have arisen against our products, like ethanol, beef, cotton, orange juice, airplanes and so on."

20:53 | |

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