The name of former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) has disappeared from a list published on the internet of personalities who, according to the Ukrainian government, collaborate with the “Russian propaganda narrative”.
The body responsible for the list, the Center for Containment of Disinformation, did not explain the reason for the withdrawal, which also affected 2 other of the 78 names listed. It could be a technical problem, given that the three excluded were listed in sequence, and the site groups its defendants precisely in groups of three out of three.
In any case, this came a day after the relationship was the subject of reports in the British online magazine UnHerd and the Sheet, which highlighted the case of Lula in Brazil, in addition to having appeared in other vehicles on Monday (25). The list itself has been online since at least July 14th.
The center was created last year in the context of the version dispute between Russia and Ukraine, which dates back to the so-called Orange Revolution against Moscow in Kiev in 2004-2005 and today takes on dramatic airs with the invasion promoted by Vladimir Putin of his neighbor in February.
THE Sheet questioned him, by email, about the case, but got no response. A check with the site history tool shows the list with Lula on Monday and without him on Tuesday. He was the only former head of state in the list, which includes politicians, journalists, academic experts and commentators.
The other two names excluded are veteran American intelligence analyst Paul Pillar, who analyzes the Ukrainian position in the conflict from a realistic perspective seen in Kiev as pro-Kremlin, and Serbian political scientist George Vukadinovic, an open supporter of Russia.
The relationship was somewhat chaotic and included mistakes, as in the case of Lula. He was accused of having said that Russia should lead a new world order, which he never did. The PT, in his two terms (2003-10), was an advocate of alternative diplomacy to the one commanded by the US and helped to found the BRICS, a bloc that includes Brazil, Russia, China, India and South Africa.
The other statement attributed to Lula is correct: he said that the Ukrainian leader, Volodymyr Zelensky, was as guilty as Putin for the conflict in an interview published in May in the American magazine Time.
“I keep watching the president of Ukraine on television as if he were celebrating, getting a standing ovation by all the parliaments, you know? This guy is as responsible as Putin. He is as responsible as Putin. Because in a war there is not just one culprit “, he said in March, when the interview was done.
There were several criticisms of Lula, who countered by saying that he had always criticized the invasion promoted by the Kremlin. His position is shared, in general terms, by Itamaraty and by his rival in the October presidential election, the incumbent, Jair Bolsonaro (PL).
The US, for its part, continues to pressure Brazil and other countries to take a tougher line with Moscow. Brazilians condemned the war by supporting the UN resolution, but for economic interests they do not share the sanctions regime against the Russians — as do allies of the Kremlin of the suit of China and India, but also some opponents.
The American Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, is in Brasília for a meeting of defense ministers and will give a presentation on the subject. Last week, Zelenski had criticized Bolsonaro for his neutrality, in an interview with TV Globo. The Brazilian said he supported his opinion.
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