Kelly Hekally Mail Special
posted on 02/25/2023 06:00
(Credit: Brazilian Army)
The federal government has ordered the export of 28 Brazilianmade Guarani armored personnel carriers to the Philippines. The government saw the decision as retaliation for President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s refusal to sell tank ammunition to Berlin for transport to Russianoccupied Ukraine. The Brazilian equipment has German components.
The deal with the Filipinos was completed in 2021 through the Israeli company Elbit. For the troop transport, the Guarani was chosen, a partnership between the army and the Italian company Iveco, whose plant is located in Sete Lagoas (MG).
To block the transaction, Germany reasoned that the components manufactured in that country could not be sold to third parties without authorization leading to the Federal Office of Economics and Export Control of the government of Berlin determining the suspension of the five Guaranis waiting to go to the Philippines to be delivered. The solution to closing the deal is to replace the components of German origin.
Brazil’s stance on the RussianUkrainian conflict has drawn criticism from the diplomatic community inside and outside the country. A year on from the start of the war, Itamaraty is sticking to the strategy of neutrality in the face of the conflict, a position seen as ambiguous and doubted by pundits and ambassadors as to its viability should the war escalate.
On the one hand, Ukraine receives support from the United States and other strategic allies of Brazil. But at the other extreme is Russia, a longtime trading partner that supports fertilizer consumption and is part of the Brics. Like China whose President Xi Jinping was in Moscow a few days ago the idea since the Bolsonaro and Lula governments has been not to isolate the Russians and to take a position of dialogue with both parties to the conflict. .
This attitude prompted the Federal President to personally refuse Chancellor Olaf Scholz, during his visit to Brazil, ammunition for the Leopard 1 tanks that Berlin would send to the Ukrainians. For former Brazilian ambassador to the US and China, Roberto Abdenur, such a decision was a mistake.
“If the West did not provide Ukraine with weapons for selfdefense, it would condemn it to total annexation by Russia. Being neutral in the face of barbarism means being lenient or almost silent towards Russia,” he criticized.
“As the war intensifies, Brazil will be forced to take a stand and we don’t know exactly how it can act,” regrets Guilherme Casarões, Professor of International Relations at the FGV.
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