Everything indicates that the president-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva should announce his ministry only after his graduation ceremony at the Superior Electoral Court, on December 12th. For obvious and understandable reasons, the most anticipated announcement is the name of who will occupy the Ministry of Economy, or of Finance, if the folder returns to its previous configuration. To head the Itamaraty, the most quoted name at the moment is that of the diplomat Mauro Vieira, which may represent a wasted opportunity for Lula and for Brazil’s foreign relations.
Let’s start this analysis by making it clear right at the beginning that there is nothing that discredits Mauro Vieira in himself. The 71-year-old diplomat has held the four most important posts in Brazilian diplomacy. First, he was ambassador to Argentina between 2004 and 2010, our most important neighbor. Afterwards, he was Brazil’s ambassador in Washington from 2010 to 2015, the main hemispheric power and largest economy on the planet. From Washington, he was elevated to the highest position, being Minister of Foreign Affairs of Brazil from January 2015 to May 2016.
After the impeachment of then-president Dilma Rousseff, Mauro Vieira was appointed head of the permanent representation of Brazil at the United Nations, where he stayed until the end of the Michel Temer government. Vieira was even one of the few ministers in the Dilma government who formally transferred the position after the impeachment, seeking to demonstrate the continuity of the Itamaraty as a State institution. Also to avoid damage to the institution’s image and the “witch hunt” image, Temer appointed Vieira to an important post after he left the Itamaraty leadership in the hands of José Serra.
In addition to being an experienced career diplomat, Mauro Vieira also has good transit in the National Congress, with good relations with various political leaders. There are three aspects that support his favoritism for the position. His experience, his political influence, already mentioned, and his good relationship with Celso Amorim. The ex-chancellor, who holds the record for staying in office, is Lula’s main adviser in this area. And it was Amorim who had Mauro Vieira as his right-hand man in his administration, occupying the two important embassies mentioned during Amorim’s leadership in the ministry.
mark rupture
The issue is that bringing Mauro Vieira back to office, as said, is a potentially wasted opportunity. For a few reasons. First, impact on Brazil’s internal political scene. If at the beginning of the column we mentioned that the most anticipated announcement is, obviously, the name that will occupy the Treasury, the name of Mauro Vieira will have practically no impact on current Brazilian politics. Lula is a politician, elected in the tightest Brazilian presidential election with a broad front platform to run against Jair Bolsonaro. In this scenario, it is necessary to score every possible point.
Of course Lula knows that. The question is, how does a name like Mauro Vieira mark a cleavage with the government that preceded Lula? How much positive public attention does a repeated name like that attract? Basically none. In contrast, appointing a woman, a career diplomat, to head the ministry would cause much more political impact for Lula, including within his electorate, which precisely seeks flags such as representativeness and the greatest possible distance from Bolsonaro. Even if the reader disagrees with these flags, the political calculation exists.
Brazil has never had a woman at the head of its diplomacy and such an announcement by Lula would represent something unprecedented and a cleavage with his predecessor after a close election. Only positive repercussions would come from that, contrary to the indifference that Mauro Vieira’s announcement will bring. Again, this is not about discrediting the professional Mauro Vieira and his career, but highlighting that, in addition to having already had his chance for a place in the sun, this is an atypical political moment. Need to shake things up a bit. And, with a career diplomat, there aren’t even many risks in that rattling.
While Centrão, the financial sector and other political actors will press for consecrated or “safe” names in portfolios such as Finance or Infrastructure, Itamaraty represents a chance to innovate without major political costs, since the portfolio, traditionally, is not part of the game party for power and influence. Second, a female chancellor would have a positive impact on the external political scene. Brazil is one of the few countries in America that has never had a woman at the head of its diplomacy, and this would be done in a moment, again, of showing distance in relation to its predecessor.
renewal and merit
Few things could, at the same time, renew Brazil’s image abroad and depend only on the president’s pen. A simple act but with enormous positive repercussions. Today, countries like Chile, Australia, Sweden, Germany and France have women at the head of their diplomacy. And it is also not something exclusive to left-wing governments. Just remember the Republican Condoleezza Rice, in the presidency of George W. Bush, or the British conservative Liz Truss. Third, a female chancellor would also represent advances for Itamaraty itself.
The ministry, like many Brazilian institutions, is still quite unequal in relation to its staff, both in the proportion of women in the career as a whole and in the low proportion of career advances. During the Estado Novo, the entry of women into the diplomatic career, which had existed for less than 20 years, was even prohibited. Only in 1959 did Brazil have an ambassador, Odette de Carvalho e Souza. At the time, it is important to emphasize that it was a great advance, including in relation to the world, but since then, Brazil has been lagging behind.
If the Itamaraty’s best tradition is to know how to renew itself, it’s time for a female renewal in the ministry. This will enable new ideas and new views on old subjects. Not to mention issues like harassment in the workplace. In recent years, diplomats have even found themselves on the police pages for episodes of violence against women. So much is known about the importance of this renovation that it is said that, even if Mauro Vieira is appointed, the secretary general of the Itamaraty, the second post in the ministry, will be occupied by a female diplomat.
Finally, the fourth argument for a woman at the head of Brazilian diplomacy is merit. A type of argument contrary to what is exposed here in our column is that one wants to “nominate a woman just because she is a woman”. It’s not about naming a woman just because she’s a woman, but also because of that. There is no shortage of career women diplomats with excellent CVs, experience in important positions and academic production. Often overlooked in key promotions, creating a snowball.
The column will not name one or another diplomat, so as not to appear that the text “so-and-so” the issue and to avoid injustice by eventually not citing other professionals who defend Brazilian interests with competence and fiber. The point is that, as competent as Mauro Vieira is, he would be more of the same at a time in Brazilian politics that calls for change and renewal. In the case of Itamaraty, the path is clear. The only doubt should be just the amount of exceptional resumes of female diplomats available to the president-elect.
#Lula #nominate #diplomat #Itamaraty