Today, Brazil, the leading economy of South America, is acknowledged to be well on its way from a developing country to a world power. A turning point, perhaps, was, as former Philippine Prime Minister Cesar Virata put it, when Brazil made a powerful impression at the Group of 20 meeting in London.

President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, once considered a leftist, has turned Brazil into a model of fiscal discipline. It is ironic that while other countries are borrowing, Brazil is contributing $4.8 billion to the International Monetary Fund, to help developing countries in difficulty because of the financial crisis. IMF Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn, said “bBrazil once more reaffirms its strong role as a leading emerging market economy.”

Brazil has taken some hits during the global financial recession, but recovered quickly through its free market strategy, piling up a trade surplus with its internal and regional markets. Blessed with abundant natural resources, in oil and gas, metals, sugarcane ethanol, and beef, Brazil enjoys a trade surplus with every country in the region. The US was once Brazil’s major trading partner, a position that has been overtaken by China.

Since he took office in 2003, “Lula,” as he is popularly known, has made no bones about his desire for world recognition for himself and his country. He has reached out to other developing countries in Africa and the Caribbean, by opening 35 new embassies. He has personally visited 45 countries, and addressed the UN General Assembly. The Brazilian ambassador in Washington meets regularly with the ambassador of China, India, and Russia to coordinate policy.

One of the major factors contributing to Brazil’s financial health is that the country is clearly interested in trade rather than military power and spends little of its annual budget on military equipment. Although Brazil served in World War II, the nearest to military action it has taken recently is a peacekeeping force in Haiti.

Brazil is credited with having the best anti-AIDS program of any developing country. It produces its own anti-viral drugs which are distributed free to AIDS patients.

It also has much to offer the world’s tourists, in natural beauty and urban planning. When Philippine Foreign Secretary Bert Romulo first saw the planned city of Brazilia at a forum for East Asia/Latin American cooperation, he was “awed” by its grandeur.

I was initially attracted to Brazil’s practical approach to global problems during the oil crisis of 2006 when countries “addicted to oil” were totally dependent on oil producing countries, regardless of price or political persuasion. Brazil has offshore oil, but to assure its own energy selfsufficiency and help its neighbors it went into full-scale production of ethanol made from sugarcane, which the country grows in abundance. At that time sugar was its major export.

The Philippines and Brazil have had diplomatic relations for over forty years. The Philippines opened an embassy in Rio de Janeiro in 1965, then transferred to Brazil’s new capital, Brazilia, in 1972. A Brazilian ambassador assigned to Tokyo presented his credentials to President Marcos in 1966, and in 1968 Brazil created a permanent embassy in Manila. The hospitable current ambassador, Alcides Prates, is interested in developing both cultural and trade relations between his country and the Philippines.

President Arroyo’s present overseas trip includes a four-day visit to Brazil to strengthen bilateral relations between the two countries and meet with President Da Silva, after her first stop in Japan.