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World Jewish News
Just before Lieberman visit, Brazil official calls him 'racist and fascist'
21.07.2009
Hours before Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman's landmark visit to Brazil, a leading member of the country's ruling party called him a "fascist" and said that leftists will protest his presence.
The leader of Brazil's Jewish community said the visit is needed to "reverse exactly such attitudes."
Lieberman's 10-day visit to South America, the first in several years by an Israeli foreign minister, is set to begin today with Brazil, before moving on to Argentina, Peru and Colombia.
"Lieberman is a racist and a fascist," Valter Pomar, secretary of international relations for the Workers Party (PT), told Haaretz. "The Brazilian left is organizing protests against him and against the policy he represents."
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, also a PT member, will meet Lieberman today in Brasilia. "Everyone is entitled to his own opinion," a spokesman for the Brazilian foreign minister said. "Pomar's view certainly does not represent the government's position."
The president of Brazil's Jewish community, Dr. Claudio Luiz Lottenberg, said he had not heard about planned demonstrations. "We haven't had state visits for a long time and a bad environment has been created. Now we need to restart relations with a fresh attitude," he said.
Lottenberg, who will host Lieberman in Sao Paulo, said he will tell the foreign minister to try to refocus relations on "more than just trade."
Lieberman's trip to South America is aimed at helping curb Iranian influence there, the foreign ministry said.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was scheduled to visit Brazil in May but canceled. Lottenberg's organization had been vocal in protesting the visit, along with gay and human rights groups.
"Part of the reason that Ahmadinejad's visit was canceled is that he didn't want too much noise with elections approaching," said Sandra Rejwan, the organization's Israel representative. "Lieberman's visit is a positive development."
By Cnaan Liphshiz
Источник: Haaretz
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