US President Barack Obama has praised Brazil's transition from dictatorship to democracy as a model for the Arab world. The US President said this as he spoke from a theater in a historic Rio de Janeiro square where a 1984 protest set the stage for the eventual end of a 20-year military dictatorship. He said those protesters showed how a popular revolt could produce a thriving democracy. Without specifically mentioning the military action in Libya, the US President drew a connection to the events there and throughout the Middle East. He said, we have seen the people of Libya take a courageous stand against a regime determined to brutalize its own citizens. The US President said, that across the region, we have seen young people rise up, and the new generation demanding the right to determine their own future.