SÃO PAULO, Brazil – Under Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil was a nation to be despised. Not my words, but the words of the former foreign minister: Obviously “It’s good to be outcast.” I don’t remember these people.
When Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva took office in January, after defeating Mr Bolsonaro, many hoped that he would bring Brazil back into the international mainstream. The early signs were good: In November, even before taking office, Mr. Lula visited COP27 in Egypt, and had a pleasant visit to the United States in February. Then Mr. Lula started writing the wrong script. For several frantic weeks, he attempted to initiate peace talks on Ukraine, criticize the supremacy of the US dollar, visit China and host the Russian foreign minister.
Many in the West were outraged, with one commentator accusing him of “politically supporting the anti-American tyrants.” It’s a compelling view, especially since Mr. Lula – as he did in China – holds that Russia and Ukraine are equally responsible for the war. But all the same, it’s a mistake. Taken together, Mr. Lula’s moves are not an attempt to contain the West but to advance Brazil’s national interests, as well as its commitment to eradicating poverty in the Southern Hemisphere. In keeping with the country’s history of multilateralism and sensitive to its needs, Mr. Lula is charting his own course.
China is the big one. Mr. Lula came to visit Beijing in April, where he met President Xi Jinping amid much fanfare, much to dissent. But the visit, which comes after trips to Argentina and Uruguay, was certainly expected. After all, China belongs to Brazil leading trading partner, importing large amounts of iron ore, soybeans and increasingly meat. For its part, Brazil imports from China nearly everything — like the pesticides, semiconductors, jewelry, and glitter that fill our dollar stores.
Economic benefits alone could explain the trip. But Mr. Lula made it clear that he had other motives for the visit. “We have political interests,” he say, “and we are interested in building a new geopolitics so that people can change the way the world is governed.” The comment is a reference to Mr. Lula’s previous obsession, when he was president from 2003 to 2010, to shake off the supposed Western dominance of international organizations such as the International Trade Organization and the World Trade Organization. world trade and ensure greater representation of developing countries in the United States. Nation. In this project, China is clearly an ally.
Mr. Lula’s journey shows the importance of this concern. First of all, he first date was to see his successor as Brazil’s leader in 2011, Dilma Rousseff, took office as president of the New Development Bank in Shanghai. Often referred to as the bank of the BRICS – an acronym for the emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – the institution aims to act as a counterweight to the wealthy nations. in the Global North. in him accompanying speechMr. Lula claimed it could “liberate emerging countries from the submission of traditional financial institutions that intend to regulate us,” bluntly criticizing the International Monetary Fund.
This is the heart of the matter. For many leaders of developing countries, the global financial system – overseen by the IMF and World Bank and denominated in US dollars – is aimed at squeezing poorer nations, locking them in repayment program and prevent investment in infrastructure and welfare. At the launching ceremony of the new Development Bank, Mr. Lula said he asks himself “every night” why all countries are forced to make their trade backed by the dollar. While that may sound like a recipe for poor sleep, the concern itself is not unreasonable.
Much more disturbing is that Mr. Lula appears to have given China a free ticket. That’s one thing declare, as he did after a visit to Huawei’s research center in Shanghai, that “we have no prejudice in our relationship with the Chinese.” But it’s completely different declare that Taiwan is not an independent country while saying nothing about human rights violations or state surveillance. Such silence shows Mr. Lula’s approach, often described as turning back utilitarianismhas its moral cost.
However, Mr. Lula is also drawing on Brazil’s tradition in foreign policy, based on the principles of multilateralism, non-intervention and peaceful conflict resolution. That’s what’s behind his rejection selling weapons to Ukraine and attempt to convene a “peace club” of neutral nations to mediate negotiations between Ukraine and Russia.
Of course, a moderate end to the brutal war in Ukraine is desirable, but Mr. Lula has accomplished his goal in a strange way. He accused the United States of “provoke war” and the European Union do not talk about peace — and even say that “the two countries” decided to go to battle,” implies that Ukraine is also to blame for the conflict. In April, he suggested that Ukraine might hand over Crimea to end the war.
Such comments have not gone unnoticed. The Russian Foreign Minister, during a tour of Latin America, where controversy included Brazil, express my gratitude. Others are less satisfied. A US official accused Mr. Lula of “parroting Russian and Chinese propaganda” and EU spokesman repeat that Russia is the only one at fault. A spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, while diplomatic, made his displeasure clear.
Punished, Mr. Lula quickly backed down, underlined that his government “condemns Ukraine’s violation of its territorial integrity.” Despite this, he continued to support a “negotiated political solution” to the war and reiterated his concern “about the global consequences of this conflict”. There’s no reason to think he’s dishonest. For food security, peace and sustainable development — in Brazil and around the world — Mr. Lula seems willing to lose the goodwill of his democratic friends in the West.
Brazil is a pariah no more. Instead, it was a pragmatist.
