SYRIZA chief finds inspiration for Greece in Brazil

Following a 75-minute meeting with Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff on Wednesday, SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras said Greece should see Brazil as an example of how to get out of its economic crisis and admonished Prime Minister Antonis Samaras for not seeking allies outside of the eurozone.

“Brazil’s message for the Greek people… is the exit from the crisis cannot happen through memorandums of austerity but only via policies of social cohesion, growth and redistribution,” Tsipras said as he rounded off a trip to Brazil, which included a meeting with the country’s former president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, or Lula.

SYRIZA sources appeared buoyed by the fact Tsipras secured meetings with top Brazilian politicians, given the country’s strong economic performance over recent years. The leftist opposition also sees it as confirmation of its long-held position that Greece should be forging alliances with non-traditional partners to change the austerity-led approach to its economic crisis.

“My contacts with state and national authorities in Brazil, the world’s fifth-largest economy, confirm our initial assessment that Greece can find strong allies on the geostrategic chessboard if it follows an energetic and multifaceted foreign policy,” said Tsipras, who is traveling to Argentina next.