Press Statement
John Kerry
Secretary of State
On behalf of President Obama and the people of the United States, I send my best wishes to the people of Brazil as you celebrate the 193rd anniversary of Brazilian independence on September 7.
Longstanding ties of friendship, peace, and democracy bind our two nations. The United States was the first country to recognize Brazil’s independence, and today we share a commitment to ensuring prosperity for our peoples. During President Rousseff’s visit to the United States in June, we agreed to enhance our cooperation in areas of mutual interest, including climate change, human rights, business, education, and science and technology collaboration.
Our relationship goes well beyond government to government. Hundreds of thousands of Brazilians and Americans travel between our two countries annually for business, tourism, and educational, professional and cultural exchanges. We look forward to continuing to expand and deepen our significant people to people connections.
As President Obama has said, “…our two nations are natural partners — in the Americas and around the world.”
On this day of celebration, we join Brazilians around the world in recognizing the strong bonds between our two peoples and the promise of deepening friendship in the future.
