President Barack Obama started in Brazil a visit to three Latin American countries and announced a “new stage” in the relations between the United States of America and our continent. To PCdoB, US’s imperialism will not change the essence of its policy with the Obama administration. The concrete initiatives of US’s government contradict its rhetoric and discourses.

Many interests of the USA motivate the visit of Barack Obama, but it is mainly aimed at: trying to neutralize Brazil and the recent role of its independent and progressive foreign policy; increasing the already great asymmetry in bilateral relations in the economic, commercial and defense fields and stimulating contradictions between Brazil and other countries such as China in the economic and commercial fields; ensuring the supply of energy, especially oil from pre-salt layer; and taking actions to “clean the image” of imperialism using Obama’s charisma and the “soft power” diplomacy to launch a supposedly “new policy” for Brazil and Latin America with demagogic speeches in Brazil, Chile and El Salvador.

It is understandable that governments such as that of President Dilma Rousseff, counting with the support and participation of PCdoB, maintain diplomatic relations with sovereign countries, among which the USA. President Lula hosted President Bush twice in Brazil. However, Brazilian communists have no illusions regarding what President Obama represents. He is the chief of state of the main imperialist power, the main enemy of the peoples of the world.

Since the election of Barack Obama, the USA announced a “new policy” that in fact does not exist. Actually, it is a new formulation of the goal of recovering and broadening the world hegemony of the USA. There is now a different rhetoric, symbolic gestures amplified by efficient propaganda and a different tactics as compared to the George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush administrations, aimed at neutralizing opponents and beguiling allies, especially NATO, in order to maintain the US’s leadership even in face of its own difficulty in dealing with several conflicts simultaneously.

That does not match Obama’s speeches in defense of peace, democracy and human rights. Also there are no “common values” uniting the Brazilian people and the government of President Dilma Rousseff, in one side, and the policy of Yankee imperialism, in the other side. Why torture is still going on in Guantanamo? How many wars of occupation aggression to the people the USA promoted in the last decades and are promoting at this very moment? How many dictatorships and coups d’état were – and still are – financed and supported by the USA, such as the current monarchic and despotic regimes of Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, protected by Washington?

The new military and homeland security strategies of President Obama rhetorically promise cooperation and multilateralism. In practice, however, they follow the beaten path of imposing their interests by means of force and war.

Facts contradict rhetoric. After more than two years of the Obama administration, it is increasingly clear that the interests of that imperialist power outweigh campaign speeches. Even after recently announced cuts, the USA will spend on its armed forces in 2011 the largest budget since the end of World War II – more than the military spending of all the other countries of the world.

The USA insists in maintaining hundreds of military bases all over the globe. Together with their European allies, they change NATO’s character, which now covers all continents and seas.

There is a strong military presence of the USA in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Latin America. The USA and their NATO allies are still in Afghanistan and Pakistan, prolonging a war that is now longer than the aggression against Vietnam, and extending the military occupation in Iraq. Notwithstanding, they have not been able to curb the national and popular resistance in those countries.

At this moment the USA and NATO members are doing a military intervention in Libya after imposing on the UN Security Council a resolution that makes the aggression against the sovereignty of Libya “multilateral.” Revolutionary and progressive forces of all continents must condemn any kind of intervention or foreign military action in Libya, which will not bring a solution to the conflict and will only aggravate it. In case of the civil war unfolding in Libya, a politic and peaceful solution is necessary, one that respects the independence and territorial integrity of that country.

Obama’s policy is against the interests of Brazil and Latin America

As a general democratic and progressive trend thrives in Latin America, the decline of the influence of the US’s hegemony in the region becomes more pronounced. Although the USA still possesses great influence, it is facing a decline in face of the new political reality in Latin America.

In every country, the USA supports right-wing forces that maintain pro-imperialist stances and opposes projects of southern and Latin American integration and democratic, progressive and left-wing governments.

In Latin America, the USA reinforced media campaigns and pressures against the Cuban Revolution and threats to Venezuela, viewed by Washington’s intelligence organizations as the “main threat” against the USA in the Americas. In the meanwhile, the Colombian government follows the line drawn by the USA to become the Israel of Latin America and the Caribbean, sponsoring the murdering of popular leaders and maintaining thousands of political prisoners. Diplomatic cables from the American embassy in Brazil revealed by WikiLeaks made clear what everybody already knew – the USA did not want President Dilma Rousseff to win the election and right-wing candidate José Serra promised to realign the Brazilian foreign policy to US’s interests.

However, in the elections held in last October, the Brazilian people decided that Brazil must move forward and maintain its independent and sovereign, pro Latin America foreign policy, defending peace and the peoples’ right to development.

Imperialism is not willing to cede power without resistance. The USA, surprised by the success of the Brazil-Iran-Turkey agreement regarding the Iranian nuclear program and frustrated by the foreign policy of President Lula in several issues, such as in the resistance to the coup d’état in Honduras, resorted to all measures to isolate Brazil. Hillary Clinton, Obama’s Chief of Staff, led a tough diplomatic reaction against Brazil.

The foreign policy actions of the Obama administration is aimed at maintaining the current system of world power that is characterized by the hegemony of the USA and suffocating multipolar trends and new international roles that countries such as Brazil could play. One cannot judge political leaders such as Barack Obama by his personality or style but by what they objectively represent. Obama is the current representative of the old and well-known imperialist policy of the USA, which has always been and always will be fought by communists and democrats, patriots and internationalists in Brazil.

Renato Rabelo – National President of PCdoB

Ricardo Alemão Abreu –