The banner headline in Rio de Janeiro’s O Globo newspaper says it all: “From Brazil, Obama Orders Attack on Libya.”
That headline won't win any awards for creativity, but it surely captures the stark essence of the moment.
Obama’s first-ever trip to South America has been historic alright, but not for the reasons initially expected. All the best intended plans for his journey here were thrown off-track only a few hours after landing in Brasilia yesterday when the US-led airstrikes on Libya began.
Obama is in Rio de Janeiro today. The president and his advisors now face a delicate balancing act the next few days as he continues his South American tour: Juggling the initial phases of the attack on Libya while carrying on with business today in Rio, tomorrow in Chile, and then El Salvador - the final leg of his trip.
It's been a less than a week since Rio de Janeiro was thrust into absolute chaos with relentless downpours that flooded the city, killed 229 people (as of Sunday night), injured nearly 200, caused over 11,000 people to evacuate their homes, and left an unknown number buried under the earth in mudslides.
Sergio Cabral, the governor of the state of Rio, said it will take weeks to get the city back to normal. Heavy machinery backhoes continue to work around-the-clock to clear mud from the hardest-hit areas.
Friday marked exactly two weeks since Rio de Janeiro was granted the 2016 Olympic Games. And it only took two weeks for the city and the world to be awoken to one of the main vulnerabilities the city must tackle: Urban violence. (Or, an urban 'war zone' as many Brazilians like to say).
When a police helicopter gets shot down by drug traffickers in the middle of a traffickers-vs-traffickers shootout, it's bound to make news anywhere. But when it happens in Rio two weeks after the city is granted the Olympic Games, it really makes news. Here's a summary of the bloody weekend from the AP.
Brazil is buzzing with news that Marina Silva, President Lula’s former Minister of Environment, is thinking of running for President in 2010 as a candidate from the Partido Verde (Green Party). It’s been confirmed the Green Party offered her the position, and she has said she is seriously considering it. This could potentially be a major blow to Dilma Rousseff, Lula’s hand-picked choice and front runner to be the candidate from his Worker’s Party. Why? Because by all accounts Silva would take serious votes away from Rousseff. In an unscientific poll conducted by O Globo newspaper, 83% of the 2,193 respondents said a Marina Silva candidacy would hurt Rousseff the most.
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Brazil is buzzing with news that Marina Silva, President Lula’s former Minister of Environment, is thinking of running for President in 2010 as a candidate from the Partido Verde (Green Party). It’s been confirmed the Green Party offered her the position, and she has said she is seriously considering it. This could potentially be a major blow to Dilma Rousseff, Lula’s hand-picked choice and front runner to be the candidate from his Worker’s Party. Why? Because by all accounts Silva would take serious votes away from Rousseff. In an unscientific poll conducted by O Globo newspaper, 83% of the 2,193 respondents said a Marina Silva candidacy would hurt Rousseff the most.