SAO PAULO (Brazil): With the ‘war on terrorism’ in full swing and the prospect of a military conflict in Iraq looming large, Latin America is low on the list of priorities in Washington these days.

But in Brazil, the region’s biggest country, concerns about the United States and its plans for the hemisphere run deep, so much so that the country’s relationship with Uncle Sam has become a factor in next month’s presidential election.

From trade disputes to fears that Americans covet the Amazon’s bountiful resources, a growing number of Brazilians say they have plenty of reasons to view the United States with caution and are demanding that their leaders be more assertive when dealing with the world’s lone superpower.

“The United States is a campaign issue because a lot of people sincerely believe that the Bush administration, with all its unilateralism and protectionism, is a threat to Brazilian interests,” said Fernando Abrucio, a professor of political science at Sao Paulo’s Catholic University.

After eight years of slow but steady growth under outgoing President Fernando Henrique Cardoso, Brazil is becoming a player in the global economy, competing neck-and-neck for world markets in sectors such as agriculture, steel and small aircraft manufacturing with industrial giants like the United States.

Trade restrictions, coupled with Washington’s record of supporting military dictatorships in Latin America, have many Brazilians, including the country’s four presidential hopefuls, suspicious of a US-sponsored plan to create a Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) by 2005.

Indeed, whoever is elected next month will certainly have a say in the trade affairs.

But for many here, the most worrying part of Brazil’s relations with Washington isn’t trade; it’s the Amazon.

Brazilians at both ends of the political spectrum have long feared that outsiders, especially the United States, are out to steal the world’s largest tropical forest for themselves.

Adding fuel to the fire is a spurious map circulating on local Internet sites showing the Amazon as an “international reserve” falling under the jurisdiction of the United Nations. Though clearly a fabrication, many here quickly accepted it as proof of US plans to snatch the Amazon from Brazil.

For others, more disturbing is a bilateral treaty allowing the United States to launch satellites from a tropical base near the Equator in Brazilian territory.—Reuters