Brazil's Foreign Minister, Celso Amorim, in advance of of a WTO meeting in Geneva made the following comment:
"Goebbels used to say if you repeat a lie several times it becomes a truth," Amorim told reporters at the World Trade Organization, where top negotiators from over two dozen countries are expected Monday for the official start of the talks.
This is a truly boneheaded comment by the leading diplomat for a nation that has probably the sharpest diplomats in Latin America. There is plenty to criticize concerning the US and Europe with regard to trade: the continued intrasnigence displayed by the US with regard to the cotton subsidies decision, the EU's failure to moe on sugar subsidies, the US' ongoing tariff on Brazilian ethanol, etc.
This is a distraction from some issues of genuine concern. Amorim could have easily made the same point without invoking Goebbels. Having mentioned Goebbels, he has only succeeded in making himself look bad and clouding the issues of genuine concern.
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