To Improve Ties With Brazil, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden Should Attend Rousseff's Inauguration

12/05/2014 - 09h31

The American government should announce in the coming days the arrival of vice president of the United States, Joe Biden, to attend President Dilma Rousseff's second inauguration on January 1st, in Brasilia, according to Folha investigation.

Biden is the highest authority sent by the U.S. to a presidential inauguration in Brazil since 1990, when former vice president Dan Quayle attended Fernando Collor de Mello's ceremony.

At the time, Quayle justified the reason to his visit was the return to democracy in Brazil.

Biden's visit is an American attempt to improve ties after the crisis generated by last year's revelations of spying.

Traditionally, U.S. top authorities do not attend the ceremony, especially because it is set for January 1st.

An exception was when secretary of State Hillary Clinton represented the country at Rousseff's first inauguration.

In 2003, when Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was elected, trade representative Robert Zoellick led the American delegation.

One year before, Lula had called Zoellick ''the subsecretary of a subsecretary of a subsecretary'' after he suggested that Brazil would be reduced to selling its goods to Antarctica if it refused to join the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA).

Biden became the main interlocutor of president Rousseff and has already visited the country twice.

He called her after the re-election and renewed the invitation for a State visit to Washington. Rousseff was expected to go in October 2013, but she called it off over revelations of spying on her calls and emails.

"It is remarkable that the U.S. send a vice president for Rousseff's inauguration, especially Biden, who is very influential in government", says Paulo Sotero, director of the Brazil Institute at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

Rousseff and Biden should meet for a bilateral meeting, but a formal State visit may not be rescheduled yet.

According to the American government, there is not substance to hang this on.

The State visit would require preparatory meetings with lower grade staff of both sides because Brazil abandoned plans to buy jets for its Air Force from U.S., buying planes from Sweden instead.

Therefore, Brasília and Washington lost the main "announcement" they had for the meeting.

"It is not only the visit, we need to have substantive announcements" says a person who is involved in the process.

For example, an agreement to end double taxation of companies that operate in both countries, an issue discussed for decades.

The economic and institutional crisis in Venezuela will surely be among the topics.

Translated by JULIANA CALDERARI

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	Pedro Ladeira/Folhapress
	Vice president Biden became the main interlocutor of president Rousseff and has already visited the country twice