President Obama Addresses the Brazilian People from Rio de Janeiro
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: All right, right now, we want to take you straight to Rio de Janeiro, and that's where U.S. President Barack Obama has now taken to the stage there to talk to people about trade and perhaps even maybe he'll mention Libya. Let's listen in.</s>BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Hello, Rio de Janeiro.</s>OBAMA: Since the moment we arrived, the people of this nation have graciously shown my family the warmth and generosity of the Brazilian spirit. Obrigado! Thank you.</s>OBAMA: And I want to give a special thanks for you -- to all of you for being here because I've been told that there's a Vasco football game coming. (</s>CHEERS, BOOS AND APPLAUSE) OBAMA: So I know that -- I realize Brazilians don't give up their soccer very easily.</s>OBAMA: One of my earliest impressions of Brazil was a movie I saw with my mother as a very young child, a movie called "Black Orpheus," and it was set in the favelas of Rio during Carnival. And my mother loved that movie, with its singing and dancing against the backdrop of the beautiful green hills. And it first premiered as a play right here in Theatro Municipal. That's my understanding. And my mother is gone now, but she would have never imagined that her son's first trip to Brazil would be as president of the United States. She would have never imagined that.</s>OBAMA: And I never imagined that this country would be even more beautiful than it was in the movie. You are, as Jorge Ben-Jor sang, "A tropical country, blessed by God, and beautiful by nature."</s>OBAMA: I've seen that beauty in the cascading hillsides, in your endless miles of sand and ocean, and in the vibrant, diverse gatherings of brasileiros who have come here today. And we have a wonderfully mixed group. We have Cariocas and Paulistas, Baianas, Mineiros. We've got men and women from the cities to the interior, and so many young people here who are the great future of this great nation. Now, yesterday, I met with your wonderful new President, Dilma Rousseff, and talked about how we can strengthen the partnership between our governments. But today, I want to speak directly to the Brazilian people about how we can strengthen the friendship between our nations. I've come here to share some ideas because I want to speak of the values that we share, the hopes that we have in common, and the difference that we can make together. When you think about it, the journeys of the United States of America and Brazil began in similar ways. Our lands are rich with God's creation, home to ancient and indigenous peoples. From overseas, the Americas were discovered by men who sought a new world and settled by pioneers who pushed westward across vast</s>WHITFIELD: All right. Sorry about that. Lost that signal. We'll try to restore it, but --</s>MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Just as he was talking about --</s>WHITFIELD: Oh, it sounds like we have it again. OK. We do have it again.</s>HOLMES: Oh, we do. Let's listen in, because he's discussing Libya there.</s>WHITFIELD: Let's go back. OK.</s>OBAMA: -- nations who have struggled over many generations to perfect our own democracies. The United States and Brazil know that the future of the Arab world will be determined by its people. No one can say for certain how this change will end, but I do that change is not something that we should fear. When young people insist that the currents of history are on the move, the burdens of the past can be washed away. When men and women peacefully claim their human rights, our own common humanity is enhanced. Wherever the light of freedom is lit, the world becomes a brighter place. That is the example of Brazil. That is the example of brazil.