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Mark Zuckerberg Meets With Brazil's President At the 7th Summit of the Americas, In Panama

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Brazil's president Dilma Rousseff met Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg on Friday during the 7th Summit of the Americas, which is being held in Panama City. A picture of the meeting was released by Brazil's Presidency press office. The image shows the politician side by side with Zuckerberg, wearing a jersey that contains Facebook's logo and Brazil's flag, given to Rousseff by the billionaire.

The meeting took place just a few days after the launch of a new program by Brazil's government aiming to tackle cyber security and human rights violations on the Internet in cooperation with a private initiative. Facebook is among companies teaming up with the South American nation on the program through its Internet.org non-profit organization, set to launch at the summit. Internet.org aims to bring connectivity to everybody, particularly to low-income communities that have traditionally been deprived of the technology.

The program is known as National Pact to Fight Violations of Human Rights on the Internet and is coordinated with the ministries of education, communications and justice. Users will be able to denounce violations through the program's website -- #HumanizaRedes -- and by phone.

The program was received with distrust by some, who consider the initiative as a way for the government to censor critics and monitor them. Since the 2013 protests that took the streets of several cities in Brazil, mainly all groups who oppose Rousseff's government are organized through online channels such as Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp.

In Brazil, Facebook reaches an audience of some 83 million users, its second-largest users base after the U.S. According to the social networking website's head of strategic mobile partnerships, Laura Gonzalez-Estefani, Facebook is set on expanding more in Latin America. Brazil has one of the best Internet penetration in the region.

Last month, Facebook launched a new initiative offering entrepreneurial and technology skills to small businesses in Heliopolis, Sao Paulo’s biggest favela. The initiative, dubbed ‘Facebook in the community,’ is aimed at entrepreneurs looking to increase their customer base through social networking.