LatinWeek

Brazil: On 24 May the Brazilian daily Folha de São Paulo reported that President Barack Obama had decided not to accept President Lula da Silva's invitation to visit Brazil ahead of the general elections in October this year. The official excuse is that Obama doesn't think it appropriate to visit in the middle of an election. Lula had been hoping to sprinkle some 'Obama dust' on his heir apparent, Dilma Rousseff, who is beginning to strengthen in the opinion polls. The daily speculated that the White House is miffed with Lula's recent diplomatic foray in Iran. The US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, long a hawk on Iran, has been dismissive of the Brazil-Turkey negotiated deal and is pressing ahead for UN-led sanctions on Iran. She is in China this week to confirm its support for the sanctions.  The US state department stated that nothing in the letter changed the broader concerns over Iran's failure to “meaningfully engage" (over the nuclear issue).