waiting for president obama to come out and finally speak on libya. there s been some criticism that the president has not spoken out before. as you know, we ve had some pretty tough statements from the secretary of state, and today from the white house press secretary, but this is the first time the president has really come out and spoken on libya. as you know, the united states is desperately trying to get about 500 americans out of libya. that may account for the fact that we haven t heard from the president before this time. i think a lot of us in the press are waiting to see whether there is some news of any kind of international coalition that might establish a no-fly zone or some kind of targeted sanctions. we ll just have to wait to hear from the president on that. also related to libya, there s something they are really watching at the white house, and that is oil. as you know today, the cost of a barrel of oil went over $100 for the first time since 2008.
libya only provides about 2% of the world s oil, but as you know, and as we ve been watching on cnn, there is unrest all over the middle east, so people are worried about how the cost of oil will go up and could affect our very delicate economic recovery in this country. but there is some good news for the white house. they are celebrating over there because, of course, rahm emanuel is now the mayor of chicago. the president says he couldn t be prouder of him. what s really interesting about rahm s race in chicago is that it was a huge field, and he had to win over 50% of the vote, and he did that handily, and he won the majority of the african-american districts and so that is very, very important to him as he puts his coalition together in the windy city.
people in as much as it is a movement for better governance, more participation in decision making, more job opportunity, a vision of a better future for the youth of these countries, and we would like to see in whatever way possible we can support their efforts towards these objectives. well, first, let me say that i think the united states, starting with what the president said on friday, what i reiterated yesterday, have made it absolutely clear that we strongly condemn the violence in lib libya, that we have called for an end to violence against protestors and those who are seeking the right that s are due to any people anywhere. and we deeply regret the loss of life that has already occurred. we ve joined with the international community to speak with one voice because, as your
benghazi today. we showed up, and i felt like i was driving into entering paris after its liberation in 1944. people were shaking our hands, throwing candy into the car window, thanking us for coming because i think the arrival of journalists here for the people in benghazi is a harbinger of their full liberation. i think there s a feeling that finally the world is paying attention to the plight of the people of libya, and it was just an incredibly mind-blowing scene to watch as thousands of people were cheering the arrival of a cnn crew, dirty and tired from the long trip in here. ben, you covered, you were in the thick of things for days and days there, cairo.
addressing what s happening in libya. let s listen. i m also pleased that last year our two countries launched the global partnership dialogue to advance exchanges on economic security and social issues. in the past year, our energy ministries have concluded a work plan for energy that will help us collaborate on advancing sustainable technologies such as hydropower, smart grids and energy-efficient housing. we initialled an open skies agreement that will increase the amount of flights between the united states and brazil and make pricing more competitive and we signed a defense cooperation agreement that will help us work together to meet the security challenges confronting us. i also was pleased that we signed a memorandum of understanding that will help us together promote international development. brazil brings so much to the table when it comes to global