US vice president pledges to deepen ties with Brazil

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden promised Friday during his official visit to Brazil to deepen bilateral relations. "I leave Brazil with much optimism on the fact that relations can reach another level. We are the first economy in the world, you are the seventh. I hope we can work a lot together," he told a press conference after his meeting with Brazilian President Dilma Roussef on the last day of his three-day visit. "We're ready for a deeper, broader relationship across the board on everything from the military to education, trade and investment," Biden said. Biden said he expressed to Rousseff the will of his country to strengthen relations in all areas. "I do not think there is any obstacle we cannot overcome," he said, adding that "the interest we have of strengthening relations, which were never distant, is stressed by these visits and meetings. " Biden said one of the goals of his visit was to officially invite the Brazilian president to visit Washington next October. He promised that the U.S. government would work to issue tourist visas to Brazilians in a faster manner, saying he had talked to the Brazilian authorities to significantly reduce the waiting time for a visa from 12 weeks to two or three days. "To do that, we are doubling the number of consulate workers." Biden also praised Brazil for achieving the'magic'of successfully conciliating economic growth with democracy and social advances. At the press conference, Biden was accompanied by his Brazilian counterpart Michel Temer, who said Brazil's foreign policy is never to distance itself from the United States, despite the fact that it has favored the South-South relations. Biden arrived in Brasilia from Rio de Janeiro after visiting Colombia, and Trinidad and Tobago. This was Biden's fourth visit to Latin America.