Talk:Brazilian President meets President of Colombia

Good article. Informative and well written. A couple of notes:

• It'd be good to have more direct quotes. They help punch up the story and work better as supporting sources. A fairly careful translation would be required, though.
• Need a source on the Castro connection. Again, direct quotes work best. Attribution is key.
• A few translation questions, since I've edited a couple articles like this already ;)
  • prision = arrest?
  • arrestment = arrest?
  • polemic = argument?

Nice work

I also think this article is very interesting. There is a slight problem however. It seems to have an anti-leftist slant. Of course it's true that PT has had good relationships with Chavez and Castro and that Farc has been involved in the Sao Paolo forum etc. But it's also true that Lula has distanced himself from Castro and Chavez many times. See for example this interview in the Washington Post. I think it would be enough to rephrase some parts a little bit to make it NPOV.

Excellent catch. I added the reference and the quote from Lula into the article. MikeEdwards 00:38, 22 Jan 2005 (UTC)

It was a good job MikeEdwards. But I have to add a note about the expulson of the NYT reporter and his attempts to control the press. Take a look, please. As you see the matter has some complexity. -- Carlosar 01:03, 22 Jan 2005 (UTC)

I think it is almost ready to be published. -- Carlosar

Lula's role complex

Lula's role in Latin America is somehow complex. Do you think we should separate this article in two? Write another complementary article? Mention Lula relationship with Castro and Chavez and FARC? One suggestion is: write a concise report about Lula, Castro, Chavez, FARC, Uribe relationship. Detail this relationship in another article. Unfortunatelly write a concise report(example:one paragraph) about Lula's relationship seems difficult. Do you have some ideas? Do you have another suggestion? Or just left the article as it is? -- Carlosar 01:29, 22 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Also I would suggest to not extend the discussion to this article too much, otherwise the article will get old. -- Carlosar 01:29, 22 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Someone suggested to me write another more detailed article about Lula's relationships. We could just do a concise report about Lula relationship with Castro, Chavez, FARC and Uribe here. But I dont have any idea how we could do that in a proper way here in this article. Should we cut something? What do you think? Do you have some suggestions? -- Carlosar 01:37, 22 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Sugestions

1. Here is a possible solution:

Brazil has a seemingly good relationship with Colombia. In March 2003, Lula met Uribe and they discussed concerns of both countries. They also discussed the FARC. Brazil did not want to name the FARC as a terrorist group. Amorim explained that it is not part of Brazilian policy to classify political groups as terrorists. Brazil, however voted for a Organization of American States motion condemning an alleged terrorist FARC attack in Colombia [1], [2]. Chavez and Lula have a close relationship. President Lula repeatedly defended Chavez. Both men have been said to manifest support and empathy for the Cuban President Fidel Castro, though Lula has distanced himself publicly from the Cuban leader.

The FARC is a member of the Foro de São Paulo organization led by Lula. Lula supports the FARC position against the influence of the United States in Latin America.

Yesterday, after a meeting with Peruvian Minister of Foreign Relations Manuel Rodríguez, the Colombian Minister of Foreign Relations, Carolina Barco, said in a interview to Radio Caracol [3] that Colombian chancellery is engaging in a dialog in the best terms with the Venezuelan chancellery and that exists the best spirit to solve the problems.

Look, this is a suggestion. You can use it, also you can work on it and make some changes and even cutting more. Also you can left everything as it is in the article and forgetting about this suggestion. Ideas? Since you are native English speakers maybe you can solve this trouble better than me. -- Carlosar 01:49, 22 Jan 2005 (UTC)

2. Another suggestion

(...)
Lula and Uribe did not say very much publicly, opting instead to have a reserved conversation to discuss the matter. Lula proposed a bilateral solution between Colombia and Venezuela, suggesting himself as a peacemaker between the two countries.

Later, Lula talked by phone with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. The Brazilian Minister of Foreign Relations Celso Amorim will coordinate the eventual Brazilian efforts to help solve the crisis. Yesterday, after a meeting with Peruvian Minister of Foreign Relations Manuel Rodríguez, the Colombian Minister of Foreign Relations, Carolina Barco, said in a interview with Radio Caracol [4] that Colombian chancellery is engaging in a dialogue in the best terms with the Venezuelan chancellery and that there exists the best spirit to solve the problems.

Lula's role in Latin America

Brazil has a seemingly good relationship with Colombia. In March 2003, Lula met Uribe and they discussed the concerns of both countries. They also discussed the FARC. Brazil did not want to name the FARC as a terrorist group. Amorim explained that it is not part of Brazilian policy to classify political groups as terrorists. Brazil, however voted for a Organization of American States motion condemning an alleged terrorist FARC attack in Colombia [5], [6].

Chavez and Lula have a close relationship. President Lula repeatedly defended Chavez. Both men have been said to manifest support and empathy for the Cuban President Fidel Castro, though Lula has distanced himself publicly from the Cuban leader.

In an interview with the Washington Post not long after his election, Lula said, "In relation to Cuba, let's not confuse the passion that my generation has for the Cuban revolution and what it represented then with any approval of the Cuban regime today. I defend religious freedom, cultural freedom, freedom for trade unions and political freedom." However, Lula tried to expel the New York Times journalist Larry Rohter because of writings deemed libelous. Also Lula tried to create a council formed by sympathizers and members of his party to control the press [7], [8].

The FARC is a member of the Foro de São Paulo organization led by Lula. Lula and others members of his party already have received FARC leaders many times [9], [10], [11], [12]. Lula supports the FARC position against the influence of the United States in Latin America. According to the Folha de São Paulo newspaper, in a interview on the Brazilian television channel Record, Lula said FARC should become like the Workers' Party and should participate in Colombian elections. He denied the supposed Workers' Party relationship with the FARC and said the term axis of evil used to describe the relationship between Brazil, Venezuela and Cuba was a bad joke [13].

According to Lula, Brazil wants to establish good relationships with all countries, including the United States. However, he leads the Foro de São Paulo, an organization whose members the US government sees as enemies. These members include: National Liberation Army, the FARC, Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front, Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity, Sandinista National Liberation Front, Tupamaros, and the Communist Party of Cuba.

3.Another suggestion

(...)
Later, Lula talked by phone with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. The Brazilian Minister of Foreign Relations Celso Amorim will coordinate the eventual Brazilian efforts to help solve the crisis. Yesterday, after a meeting with Peruvian Minister of Foreign Relations Manuel Rodríguez, the Colombian Minister of Foreign Relations, Carolina Barco, said in a interview with Radio Caracol [14] that Colombian chancellery is engaging in a dialogue in the best terms with the Venezuelan chancellery and that there exists the best spirit to solve the problems.

Brazil has a seemingly good relationship with Colombia. In March 2003, Lula met Uribe and they discussed the concerns of both countries. They also discussed the FARC. Brazil did not want to name the FARC as a terrorist group. Amorim explained that it is not part of Brazilian policy to classify political groups as terrorists. Brazil, however voted for a Organization of American States motion condemning an alleged terrorist FARC attack in Colombia [15], [16].

Chavez and Lula have a close relationship. President Lula repeatedly defended Chavez. Both men have been said to manifest support and empathy for the Cuban President Fidel Castro, though Lula has distanced himself publicly from the Cuban leader. The FARC is a member of the Foro de São Paulo organization led by Lula. (or: "Lula supports the FARC position against the influence of the United States in Latin America.")

Two sections

I separated the article in two sections. I think it is better this way. What do you think? -- Carlosar 13:10, 22 Jan 2005 (UTC)