October 31, 2006

Bush to Lula: Give Me Some Know-How

This probably did not make headlines today in the US, but it sure did down here:

Press Briefing by Tony Snow

On today's schedule, the President had a phone call at 7:45 a.m. this morning with President Lula da Silva of Brazil -- a brief conversation, about five minutes, very friendly, the President congratulating President Lula on his recent election victory. The two of them also talked about issues of mutual interest, which include energy, biofuels, and trade. And they both said that they'd like to get together sometime soon. So, more on that when that is put together.

The reason this was such big news here was one of the details that Tony Snow omitted from his press statement--but which Celso Amorim, the Foreign Affairs minister of the Brazilian government, quoted. The following is from the BBC's Brazilian website, translated by yours truly (with some help from Google):

BBCBrasil.com | Reporter BBC | Bush conversa com Lula sobre comércio e biocombustíveis

In Brasilia, the minister of Foreign affairs, Celso Amorim, who was with Lula in the Palácio da Alvorada, recounted that Bush congratulated Lula for his “spectacular” victory. Amorim characterized the dialogue between the two presidents as having been very warm.

According to the minister, Bush even joked around a little, saying that he would like to get some “know-how” from Lula to help the Republican Party be victorious in the American congressional elections on the 7th of next month.

“You had a spectacular victory. You need to give me a bit know-how because I am need to win now”, Bush said to Lula, according to Amorim.

This is tickling Brazilians, who are delighted that their president can give a lesson in winning elections to the president of the US. I got a kick out of this story, because the comment by Bush sounds so self-depreciating, so casual...so vintage Bush.

Any time I see Bush and Lula together, I get the impression of two regular guys, shooting the breeze. It is no wonder that among Latin American presidents, Lula has the closest ties to Bush. If he keeps getting knifed in the back by Evo Morales, they might get even tighter--who knows?

It would appear, however, that Bush has hit is stride in the midterm elections. He may not need Lula's help after all.

Interesting note: When you use Google Translator, it translates the Brazilian president's nickname--Lula--literally: Squid. This makes for some interesting reading. Example: Bush congratulated Squid for his “spectacular” victory.

Posted by Andrew on October 31, 2006 8:14 PM.