Slamming the American media’s lack of attention to the inauguration of Brazil’s first woman president, columnist Véronique Saint-Geours of France’s Le Figaro also slams Hillary Clinton’s performance at the event. Saying that this reflects a continuing “imperialist” misunderstanding of the growing importance of Brazil, the Le Figaro columnist warns that Washington has mistakenly and self-destructively pigeonholed Brazil with the rest of South America.
For Le Figaro, Véronique Saint-Geours writes in part:
Acting as Barack Obama’s representative, Hillary Clinton, her blow-dry floppy, showed no panache at the inauguration of Dilma Rousseff. All smiles at the photo op with Dilma, she nonetheless arrived after everyone else and set out again before them, making her own security and PR arrangements: it was a failure to play the game that awkwardly demonstrated the “imperialist” nature of her presence. At 63, the same age as Dilma, she could have shown a bit of solidarity between women – and a more suitable sentiment than pique. An American first and foremost, she proved incapable of expressing the admiration that Brazil so deserves as a country. Was it an error of judgment or the last act in a tired career?
Hillary and Dilma were born in the same year, 1947. Both are baby boomers and militants. Dilma resisted dictatorship and was imprisoned between 1970 and 1973. Hillary’s experiences may not be directly comparable, but she fought for women’s rights and a universal healthcare reform package that foundered in 1993, despite her best efforts. They are both intellectuals: Dilma is an experienced economist and Hillary a product of Yale University through-and-through.
Hillary, though, must have seen in Dilma’s inaugural success what she herself has failed to achieve: the translation of a brilliant political career into election as president of one’s country. And Dilma’s swearing-in must haunt her like a bad movie of her own personal fiasco. Tough, very tough.
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