President-elect: Brazil will keep Iran ties, remain global player

[Judi Lynn]

President-elect: Brazil will keep Iran ties, remain global player
By Patricia Janiot and Juan Munoz, CNN
November 4, 2010 10:06 p.m. EDT

http://i.cdn.turner.com.nyud.net:8090/cnn/2010/WORLD/americas/11/04/brazil.rousseff.interview/story.rousseff.gi.jpg

"We don't believe that war is the method to
solve conflicts," says Brazil President-elect
Dilma Rousseff.

(CNN) -- Brazil will maintain its ties with Iran, but always for peaceful ends only, the country's president-elect, Dilma Rousseff, said in an interview with CNN en Español. She added that war is not the way to resolve international conflicts.

"We don't believe that war is the method to solve conflicts. You will never see Brazil occupying itself with war," Rousseff said. She spoke to CNN en Español's Patricia Janiot in her first international interview since winning the presidency on Sunday.

As Brazil plays a increasingly larger role in international affairs, Rousseff said her country is committed to "systematically defending peace in the Middle East and the rights of those countries, including Israel and Palestine, to have their states."

With respect to Latin America, the president-elect said that she would amplify the voice of "this strategic relationship to the maximum" so that region's voice could be heard on the global stage in a coordinated way.

More:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/11/04/brazil.rousseff.interview/index.html