Obama takes in Brazil with Libya on his mind

US PRESIDENT Barack Obama heaped praise on Brazil’s rise as a democratic, global power yesterday as he courted Latin America on a trip overshadowed by a US and European air assault on Muammar Gaddafi’s forces in Libya.

On the second day of what aides call his signature first-term trip to the region, Obama viewed Rio de Janeiro’s famed beaches and mountains from his helicopter and played soccer with slum kids in a display of cultural affinity.

In a speech at a historic theatre, broadcast live on television, he said Brazil had emerged from decades of underperformance to become a powerful economy and a flourishing democracy that had many shared values with the United States.