Lula’s series of misadventures include comparing Israel to Nazism, comparing Ukraine to Russia and failing to reach an agreement with the EU
Upon returning to Planalto, in 2023, the president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) made foreign policy a priority. He said he wanted to put the country back in high-level international conversations. Whenever he wanted to be a protagonist, however, he was unable to do so.
In the two main armed conflicts of the present day, Lula tried to mediate peace, but he slipped up with controversial phrases:
- Russia vs Ukraine – equaled the 2 countries, even though Ukraine has been invaded;
- Gaza Strip – turned persona non grata in Israel for comparing the Israeli government’s actions against Hamas to the Holocaust.
When he spoke at the UN (United Nations) in 2023, the main news outlets in the US and Europe practically ignored the president.
Newspapers in developed countries preferred to highlight the strong condemnation of Russia by US President Joe Biden. The speech by Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky also received considerable coverage.
Lula gave a speech in which he again avoided condemning Russia for the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. He spoke about the need to build peace, treating everyone involved in the conflict respectfully.
The Brazilian also spoke again about the need to reform the governance of the United Nations, with an increase in the number of members of the Security Council — currently composed only of the USA, Russia, France, the United Kingdom and China, all with veto power.
None of these topics were highlighted in the international media. Read the full text of the president’s speech (PDF – 172 kB) and watch the speech clicking here.
Lula and Venezuela
The PT member bet on reestablishing diplomatic ties with Nicolas Maduro in his 3rd term. Received it with pomp in Brasilia in May 2023. In view of the controversial election in the neighboring country, however, it has limited itself to moderately demanding detailed data from the polls.
Lula wants to protect himself so that he can be an interlocutor for Maduro and the opposition and also avoid any kind of violent escalation in the country. With each passing day, however, it becomes more unlikely that there will be a solution other than the current Venezuelan president being arrested if fraud in the July 28 election is confirmed or the opposition accepting that there was no error in the election.
More recently, last Thursday (8th August), the Planalto had to deal with yet another international setback. Brazil had to react to the expulsion of its ambassador to Nicaragua.
The president has already said that he spent a long time without communicating with Ortega, whom he always spoke to in a measured manner. In light of the recent affront, the PT member also had to expel Ortega’s ambassador. But the Planalto Palace acted in the wake of the Central American country.
According to the Minister of the Civil House, Rui Costathe act was reciprocal because the Brazilian ambassador had been asked to leave the country for not attending a commemorative event in Nicaragua. For the Brazilian government, this was not a reasonable reason.
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