Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, days before leaving office, again slammed the United States, complaining that the "empire's" policies toward Latin America have persisted despite the election of leftwing US President Barack Obama. "Nothing has changed in the US vision of Latin America, which makes me sad," dpa quoted Lula as telling reporters at a breakfast meeting Monday in Brasilia. Lula's handpicked successor, Dilma Rousseff, was elected on October 31 and takes office Sunday. "The United States needs to realize the importance of its relations with Latin America, because of the proximity (to the region), because of the number of Latinos in the United States and because it is a peaceful continent," Lula said. He denounced that Washington persists in "an empire's relations with poor countries." Ties between Brasilia and Washington cooled down after Obama took office in January 2009, replacing conservative predecessor George W Bush, with whom Lula had warm personal relations. Rousseff has named Brazil's former ambassador to the United States, Antonio Patriota, as foreign minister, to replace Celso Amorim, which could mark an improvement in relations between Brasilia and Washington.
