Obama Tells Rousseff U.S. to Be Among Brazil’s ‘Best Customers’

President Barack Obama said he wants the U.S. to become one of Brazil’s “best customers” when recent oil discoveries come online and pledged to work with his counterpart, Dilma Rousseff, to deepen trade ties with Latin America’s biggest economy.

Obama arrived yesterday to Brasilia juggling the demands of a five-day tour with a crisis in Libya after an international coalition began military action against forces loyal to Muammar Qaddafi. Today, in Rio de Janeiro, he’s scheduled to visit a shantytown and the city’s iconic Christ the Redeemer statue with his wife, Michelle, and their daughters, Malia and Sasha.