Obama visits 'City of God' shantytown
Source: Agencies |
March 21, 2011, Monday
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UNITED States President Barack Obama played grand tourist to Rio de Janeiro's vivid extremes yesterday, motorcading from brilliant beaches to a notorious slum even as he monitored US military strikes in Libya.
With his family in tow on the second day of a Latin American tour meant to knit economic and cultural ties, the president visited the City of God shantytown that gained fame after a movie by the same name was nominated for four Oscars. At a community center in the heart of the slum, the president played soccer with children and watched enthralled at a dazzling martial arts display.
The president shed his coat and tie, rolled up his sleeves and dribbled one-on-one soccer with one surprised boy. Then he walked out into the streets and waved to throngs of residents who cheered him from rooftops and balconies.
Obama was kept abreast by conference call of developments in Libya, where US forces were involved in a coordinated assault against Moammar Gadhafi's defenses a day after the president authorized the military action to enforce a no-fly zone.
Obama was also due to deliver a speech inside the Theatro Municipal performance hall that sits on Cinelandia Plaza, a historic square that was the scene of a 1984 protest that set the stage for the eventual end of a 20-year military dictatorship.
He will end his stay in Rio with a nighttime walking tour of Corcovado Mountain to the Christ the Redeemer Statue, the very symbol of the city.
Daniel Restrepo, a White House national security adviser, said the shantytown tour, the speech and visit to the iconic statue "underscore the connection between the United States and Brazil at the most basic level."
Obama's five-day Latin American trip - with Chile and El Salvador next on the itinerary - aims to cast the US as attentive neighbors, eager to capitalize on the region's economic successes while addressing common security concerns.
With his family in tow on the second day of a Latin American tour meant to knit economic and cultural ties, the president visited the City of God shantytown that gained fame after a movie by the same name was nominated for four Oscars. At a community center in the heart of the slum, the president played soccer with children and watched enthralled at a dazzling martial arts display.
The president shed his coat and tie, rolled up his sleeves and dribbled one-on-one soccer with one surprised boy. Then he walked out into the streets and waved to throngs of residents who cheered him from rooftops and balconies.
Obama was kept abreast by conference call of developments in Libya, where US forces were involved in a coordinated assault against Moammar Gadhafi's defenses a day after the president authorized the military action to enforce a no-fly zone.
Obama was also due to deliver a speech inside the Theatro Municipal performance hall that sits on Cinelandia Plaza, a historic square that was the scene of a 1984 protest that set the stage for the eventual end of a 20-year military dictatorship.
He will end his stay in Rio with a nighttime walking tour of Corcovado Mountain to the Christ the Redeemer Statue, the very symbol of the city.
Daniel Restrepo, a White House national security adviser, said the shantytown tour, the speech and visit to the iconic statue "underscore the connection between the United States and Brazil at the most basic level."
Obama's five-day Latin American trip - with Chile and El Salvador next on the itinerary - aims to cast the US as attentive neighbors, eager to capitalize on the region's economic successes while addressing common security concerns.
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