according to the "financial times" special report on brazil–united states relations, bilateral ties have been characterized as historically cordial, though episodes of frustration have occurred more recently. brazil's former president, lula da silva, "prompted u.s. suspicion in 2010 when he tried to intervene alongside turkey in the dispute over iran’s nuclear program." along with brazil's previous president, dilma rousseff, their "ruling workers party has been a traditional friend of regimes considered unpalatable by the u.s., such as cuba and venezuela under the recently deceased hugo chavez." throughout it all, however, trade has continued to grow, increasing from $28 billion in 2002 to almost $77 billion in 2012, with a $11.6 billion surplus in favor of the united states. defense cooperation has also improved. the united states has maintained its order for brazilian light attack aircraft, which represents brazil's first such contract with the united states military. "embraer, the brazilian builder of the aircraft, has signed a cooperation agreement with boeing to develop a jet-engined military transport aircraft. this has strengthened aspirations in washington that the u.s. might eventually win a contract to supply the brazilian air force with fighters."