RIO DE JANEIRO, Oct. 6 (UPI) -- U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell lauded Wednesday a proposal by Brazil to create a global hunger eradication program, but called the implementation "impractical."
Last month during the U.N. General Assembly in New York, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called for the creation of worldwide hunger eradication program to be funded by wealthy nations via a tax on international financial transactions.
The model for the program is based on Brazil's own "Zero Fome" (Zero Hunger) initiative, started by Lula soon after he assumed office in January 2003.
"These ideas are impractical," said Powell in a taped interview aired Wednesday on the popular TV show, "Good Morning Brazil."
The secretary was in Brazil for a three-day visit to meet with Lula, Foreign Minister Celso Amorim and business leaders.
In the interview, Powell went on to reiterate assertions made Tuesday that Brazil is a strong candidate for becoming a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council if it decides to expand its ranks because of Brazil's role as one of the hemisphere's largest democracies and its commitment to promoting peace in the region.
Powell called Brazil on Tuesday a "good, serious and important" candidate to join the council due in part to its recent efforts in Haiti -- where Brazilian troops are leading a U.N. peacekeeping mission -- and its leadership as a democracy in world trade issues.
"As we look at expansion, Brazil has to be looked at," said Powell, who did not say whether he or the White House would endorse Brazil's candidacy at the present time.
Brazil is currently serving a two-year term on the council -- which has no permanent representative from Latin America -- as a temporary member.
Powell did stress however that Brazil and the United States are important partners in hemispheric issues such as the ongoing Free Trade Area of the Americas, or FTAA, negotiations -- a proposed hemisphere-wide free trade bloc -- and both have worked toward promoting stability in Haiti. Prior to the arrival of the first U.N. troops in May, U.S. Marines led an interim international peacekeeping force in the troubled Caribbean nation.
"Brazil and the United States share a vision of this hemisphere as an example of freedom and progress for the world," said Powell. "Our two nations have worked closely together to ensure that during moments of crisis, all nations maintain their respect for the democratic process and the constitutional order."
Though Powell spoke glowingly of Brazil on Tuesday and seemed upbeat about its chances of joining the Security Council, Brazil certainly has its share of impediments to getting the permanent seat it covets.
Among them is the ongoing battle between Brazil and U.N. nuclear inspectors for the international body's International Atomic Energy Agency.
Brazil has squabbled with the IAEA over the protocol of the inspections, wanting to keep international observers from viewing certain parts of its nuclear facilities to protect technology developed in Brazil, a decision that has raised eyebrows at the United Nations and in Washington.
Even though Brazil insists it has no nuclear weapons ambition -- an assertion Washington said it believes -- the fact that Brazil is unwilling to cooperate with the IAEA has troubled U.S. leaders and most likely the other permanent members of the Security Council.
Brazil abandoned its nuclear weapons program in the 1990s, but sparked some concern in Washington when Lula mentioned during his 2002 presidential bid that he might be interested in renewing the program. The Brazilian leader shortly thereafter reverted back to Brazil's non-proliferation stance.
During Powell´s meeting Tuesday with his counterpart Amorim, the secretary said he was not concerned about Brazil´s nuclear program in the same way he the United States fretted over the nuclear ambition of nations like Iran and North Korea.
Amorim responded that Brazil´s position on uranium refinement was only for "peaceful purposes." However, that did not mean that Brazil is ready to permit IAEA inspectors to have full access to a nuclear facility in Resende, Rio de Janeiro -- which is scheduled for a visit later this month -- because it wants to protect Brazilian nuclear technology.
Meanwhile, Brazilian reluctance to permit inspectors complete access to the Resende facility is perhaps not the only obstacle standing between Brazil and a seat on the Security Council.
A prolonged impasse with the United States over the proposed FTA, which has been stalled in recent months due to Brazil´s continued balking at subsidies for U.S. farmers, could keep Brazil off the council, say some analysts. It would be a tit-for-tat move by Washington whose opinions dominate the U.N. group.
