Friction between the United States and Brazil over thorny issues related to Iran and Honduras look set to feature when a senior US diplomat's visits Brasilia on Sunday and Monday.
US Assistant Secretary of State Arturo Valenzuela, who is in charge of Western hemisphere affairs, is making the trip as part of a six-day South America tour that will take him on to Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay.
In an apparent "snub" from Brazil, Valenzuela will not be seen by Foreign Minister Celso Amorim but rather by a presidential adviser of foreign affairs, Marco Aurelio Garcia, the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper noted.
That lower-level meeting reflects is being seen as a sign of growing divergences between Washington and Brasilia born from Brazil's increasing clout in Latin America at the expense of the United States.
Iran is one hot-button issue.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recently warned several South American nations -- Brazil chief among them -- to "think twice" about fostering ties with the Islamic republic.
"I think if people want to flirt with Iran, they should take a look at what the consequences might well be for them," she said Friday in Washington, calling it a "very bad idea for the countries involved" to allow the Islamic republic to establish a presence in the region.
"We hope that there will be a recognition that this is the major supporter, promoter and exporter of terrorism in the world today," the chief US diplomat added.
Her comments came three weeks after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made a state visit to Brazil, where he was hosted by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Lula has defended Iran's nuclear energy program and expressed opposition to US-led efforts to impose further sanctions on Tehran.
Another contentious issue is Honduras.
Although both the United States and Brazil condemned a military-backed June ousting of President Manuel Zelaya, they have since taken different approaches.
Washington has recognized November 29 elections organized by the interim government to select Zelaya's successor, while Brazil, which has provided sanctuary for the deposed president at its Tegucigalpa embassy since September, has refused to do so, seeing it as an endorsement for the coup.
Valenzuela, who told reporters in Washington that his trip was a "courtesy visit," downplayed the differences with Brazil.
"I don't think that we are at odds. We may have a different appreciation of certain kinds of things as we move forward," he said.
