President-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) highlights in his speeches that he wants to reinsert Brazil into the international arena after years in which the country was treated as a pariah, but reaches his third term in a context of unprecedented challenges abroad.
To cite two cases, the new Lula administration must find a balance in the geopolitical dispute between the United States and China — something that did not exist when he first assumed the presidency, in 2003.
Brazil has also been urged by European partners to adopt a more forceful position in condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine, while at the same time trying not to alienate a strategic ally within the BRICS.
Given this scenario, Lula’s advisers say that the fastest and most effective way for him to assume a prominent position on the global board is through the fight against climate change. This does not mean that Lula’s work in the diplomatic area should be restricted to the environment, but it is a field in which there are opportunities for advancement in the short and medium term, according to allies.
“The environmental issue is central today. It generates multiple impacts on the productive sector, on human security and on the protection of biodiversity. one of the people who have advised the PT on foreign policy issues.
Kalout is a researcher at Harvard University and was Special Secretary for Strategic Affairs of the Presidency of the Republic between 2017 and 2018 (Michel Temer administration, MDB).
One of the plans under discussion is for Lula to meet in November with António Guterres, secretary general of the UN (United Nations), to launch an international initiative to combat climate change.
Lula had a meeting with Guterres during the campaign, in a virtual conversation in which Kalout, former Chancellor Celso Amorim and Cristiano Zanin, the PT’s lawyer, were also present. This Monday (31), the PT member and the diplomat spoke again.
The elected official himself highlighted the environment in his speech after the official results were released by the TSE (Superior Electoral Court).
“We are ready to re-engage in the fight against hunger and inequality in the world and in efforts to promote peace among peoples. Brazil is ready to resume its leading role in the fight against the climate crisis, protecting all our biomes, especially the Amazon rainforest”, he declared.
“Under our government, we were able to reduce deforestation in the Amazon by 80%, considerably reducing the emission of gases that cause global warming. Now, we are going to fight for zero deforestation in the Amazon.”
In addition to the possible meeting with Guterres, there are other agendas on the horizon. The PT intends to take advantage of the global climate meeting, COP27, which will take place in Egypt starting this weekend, to reinforce Lula’s image as a leader committed to fighting climate change.
As the COP is scheduled for before the inauguration, one of the possibilities studied by the campaign is for the party to accompany the conference as a member of civil society. Some of Lula’s advisers defend that PT himself attend the event.
An eventual presence of Lula tends to overshadow the Bolsonaro government delegation, which will likely be headed by Minister Joaquim Leite (Environment).
Campaign members also say that the creation of a secretariat dedicated to the climate crisis is being studied, working with international bodies and for which former minister Marina Silva (Rede), an elected federal deputy, is quoted.
The diagnosis among allies is that Bolsonaro’s defeat has already created a more favorable environment for international cooperation with Brazil. The consolidation of PT’s image also depends on strengthening environmental agencies responsible for combating deforestation.
Lula still intends to reposition himself on the international scene as a leader committed to the fight against hunger and inequality, re-editing a role played by him in his first two terms. According to interlocutors, regardless of who is Minister of Foreign Affairs, one of the priorities of the new administration will be what they call the “de-ideologization” of Itamaraty.
Although the current minister, Carlos França, has reversed part of the ultra-conservative agenda of his predecessor, Ernesto Araújo, there are points that should be reviewed at the beginning of a new administration, according to Lula’s allies.
One of them must be the re-establishment of relations with Venezuela under the regime of Nicolás Maduro. Lula’s first terms in office were marked by close ties to Chavismo — the link with the authoritarian regime is often criticized by opponents.
The PT even declared that he disagrees with the economic policy of the Venezuelan dictatorship and, in the campaign, defended the alternation of power by saying that “there is no irreplaceable president” – in a veiled criticism of the regimes in the region, which also include Daniel Ortega’s Nicaragua.
Regardless of the level of closeness between Lula and Maduro, aides say that Brazil must reactivate its embassy in Caracas, closed under Bolsonaro. The new chancellery must also stop recognizing opposition leader Juan Guaidó as Venezuela’s president.
The self-proclaimed leader, who faces growing distrust even among allies, even appointed an ambassador in Brasilia, María Teresa Belandria, who has close ties to Bolsonarismo.
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