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© The Associated PressAfter making statements, Prsident Obama does not plan to entertain inquiries from the press.
A planned press conference Saturday featuring President Barack Obama and new Brazilian President Dilma Vana Rousseff has been scratched, even before Obama departed Washington for his five-day Latin America trip.

The two leaders were scheduled to take questions Saturday morning at the Palacio do Planalto in Brasilia after a bilateral meeting there, but the White House issued a schedule Friday evening noting that the two leaders will make statements but do not plan to entertain inquiries from the press

A White House official said the change was at the request of the Brazilians. "The Brazilians said they would prefer this format," said the U.S. aide, who asked not to be named.

Brazilian press reports say Rousseff may be less than eager to be questioned about why the U.S. has yet to endorse a permanent U.N. Security Council seat for Brazil.

Just two days ago, White House officials were proudly highlighting the transparency of having a press conference in each of the three countries on Obama's itinerary.

"We'll be having three press conferences -- with each of the leaders. So there will be that opportunity," Deputy National Security Adviser for Strategic Communications Ben Rhodes said at a pre-trip briefing on Wednesday.

It was unclear whether Obama might take questions from U.S. reporters while he's in Brazil's capital, even if a side-by-side press conference with the Brazilian leader is not in the cards.