President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) last week concluded a series of foreign trips that advisers said solidified Brazil’s international reintegration strategy after years of isolation under Jair Bolsonaro (PL).
In just under a month, Lula was in Johannesburg for the summit that sealed the expansion of the Brics states (a bloc consisting of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa). traveled to New Delhi for the G20 Leaders’ Meeting, a forum of the world’s largest economies that brings together rich and emerging economies; made a short stopover in Havana for the G77 + China (Coalition of Developing Countries) and finally gave the opening speech at the UN General Assembly in New York.
Although the international agenda of the last 30 days has been intense and tiring for the 77yearold Lula, it was considered essential because it represents some of the most important references that Brazil wants to express in its foreign policy: that of a spokesman for the socalled Global South struggles to reform the institutions of international political and financial coordination, such as the UN and the IMF (International Monetary Fund); and at the same time that of an actor capable of communicating with rivals such as the United States and China without having to take sides.
In this sense, members of the Brazilian government said that Lula had managed to position himself as an important interlocutor in an increasingly multipolar world.
They emphasize that the PT member highlighted in his speeches issues that are close to the hearts of the leaders of the global South, such as the need for more representative international institutions, rejection of unilateral sanctions and calls for rich countries to take a larger share in the global one Poverty to take responsibility in the fight against the climate crisis.
“Brazil is finding itself again, our region, the world and multilateralism,” Lula told the UN. “Our country is back to make its due contribution to tackling the biggest global challenges.”
Out there
One of the goals, allies say, is to make the PT member an indispensable agent for rich nations seeking to understand the concerns of the Global South a term that is another way of referring to developing countries.
The days in New York were particularly highlighted by Lula’s staff. Not only because of the speech to the UN General Assembly, but also because the PT member held a bilateral meeting with American President Joe Biden, during which he had the right to launch a joint initiative in the field of work and because he finally gave his met his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodimir Zelensky.
Minister Fernando Haddad (Finance) also spent the days in the United States holding meetings with businessmen and investors. He reportedly heard calls for Brazil to present a structured longterm investment plan.
Lula’s meeting with Zelenski was eagerly awaited to ease unease over the two’s disagreements at the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan, and to counter criticism that the Brazilian was taking a more sympathetic stance toward Russia in the war in Eastern Europe.
At the beginning of the government, Lula’s statements on the conflict between Russia and Ukraine were the main point of conflict between Brazil and the West. The PT member even stated in April that the Americans had encouraged the war. This prompted officials in Washington to respond that the Brazilian president was parroting Russian propaganda.
Although there is still disagreement between Americans and Europeans, Lula’s advisers see positive signs that the war may not block all international coordination in forums where the United States, Russia and China are represented.
The most important sign of this is the outcome of the G20 summit in India, when the G7 (a USled group) failed to include in its final declaration a condemnation of Russia for the invasion of Ukraine.
This kind of signaling is crucial for Brazil, which assumes the rotating presidency of the G20 and does not want its agenda to combat inequality and combat the climate crisis to be swallowed up by the diplomatic row between the West and Russia over the war.
China, midland
Lula’s allies say Brazil’s G20 presidency is not the only event likely to strengthen Brazil’s role as a link between rich nations and the global south in the coming years.
The country was also scheduled to host the BRICS meeting in 2025 (already expanded with the accession of Argentina, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Iran, Egypt and Ethiopia) and the COP 30 (United Nations Climate Change Conference) in the same year in Belem.
However, the intense international change did not come without criticism from both outside and within.
At Brics, analysts pointed out that Brazil ultimately gave in to an expansion project that primarily served China’s interests. It also highlighted that the inclusion of Iran gives the group an antiWestern character that could harm the independence in geopolitical affairs defended by Itamaraty.
It’s in Havana Sheet revealed that Cuban regime authorities had recently informed the Lula government that the island was currently unable to resume debt payments to Brazil. The Cubans also called for “flexibility” in renegotiating the debt.
In domestic politics, Lula was criticized for not traveling to Rio Grande do Sul following the rains and floods that killed dozens of people in the state.
As the official delegation arrived in New Delhi for the G20 summit, First Lady Rosangela Lula da Silva, known as Janja, released a video celebrating her arrival in India. She was accused online of not showing compassion for the tragedy in Rio Grande do Sul and the video was deleted.
Back in Brazil, Lula will undergo hip surgery at the end of this month and will therefore have to spend at least a month without traveling.
The agent has been reporting pain in his hip for months. In July he confirmed the need for surgery. However, due to the importance of already established international agendas, the operation was postponed until the end of September.
Still, he must go to COP 28 in Dubai by the end of the year, an event seen as a key element of Brazil’s ambitions to be a global leader on the climate agenda.
According to aides, Lula wants to prioritize national goals next year. This is the year of the local elections, which are important for the presidential election that will take place two years later. Lula himself has shown his allies that from now on he wants to present his programs and supplies in the States.