The possible trip of president-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) to the United States to meet with the American leader, the democrat Joe Biden, still this December, before taking office, should create a tightrope in representation Brazilian diplomacy in the country.
The PT’s team did not contact Itamaraty about the trip, and Lula could visit the US capital without an official reception organized by the Brazilian embassy in Washington, led by Nestor Forster, who is very identified with the current president, Jair Bolsonaro (PL). .
Even though the trip was announced by former Minister Fernando Haddad on Wednesday (30th) and that Lula returned to the topic on Friday (2nd), the White House has not yet confirmed the invitation. Jake Sullivan, US National Security Adviser, will land this Monday (5) in Brasilia, and the president-elect says that the visit will also serve to discuss the details of the trip to Washington later this year.
The president-elect has already said that the idea is that the trip, which would serve as yet another proof of the international legitimacy of the contested victory by Bolsonaro and the PL, take place after diplomacy, on the next 12th.
There are doubts, however, about the structure that will receive the PT member outside the country, because the Itamaraty is not obliged to organize the PT member’s trip before he actually takes office, and the most likely thing is that the same configuration as the recent one will happen Lula’s visit to Portugal: he did not stay at the embassy in Lisbon and did not receive diplomatic support. He even met with the president, the prime minister and the ambassador of the Iberian country in Brazil, without the Brazilian ambassador being present.
THE Sheet sought out the Brazilian embassy in the US, which directed the questions to be sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in Brasília. By telephone, an adviser to the portfolio only replied that the body was not contacted by Lula’s team in search of support for a trip to the US – there was no answer if the Itamaraty will assist the PT before the inauguration ceremony if assistance is requested.
It turns out that the future president’s group has resistance to the current ambassador in the American capital, who should leave office in the first wave of nominations when the new government takes over.
Forster has good transit in Washington and experience in this Brazilian diplomatic representation since the 1990s, even working under PT governments, but his open defense of Bolsonaro throughout his period in office, in addition to his proximity to Bolsonarism figures, bothers the future government.
During the campaign, he wrote two letters to the American press, to the New York Times and to Bloomberg News, rebutting articles about the authoritarian escalation in the country and that criticized environmental policy. The same expedient was used in responses to Democratic congressmen opposed to the current president.
In addition, the ambassador was a close friend of Olavo de Carvalho, a Bolsonarism guru. He honored him on different occasions and, after the writer’s death, posted on a profile on the embassy’s social network that Olavo “leaves a lasting legacy through his vast work”.
With or without the support of the embassy, the possibility of a meeting between Biden and Lula before the PT takes office caught the attention of those who work with diplomacy in Washington. One of the justifications for the meeting, however, is a point of consensus: Biden does not have strong allies in Latin America today.
In Colombia, the main strategic partner in the region, there are still doubts about Gustavo Petro, who has just taken over the Presidency. In Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador had more affinity with Donald Trump. And, in Argentina, there were also frictions with the management of Alberto Fernández, who has already defended less dependence on the Americans and made nods seen as complicated in Washington to Russia and China.
In Brazil, until now an outpost of Trumpism in South America, the Brazilian president doubted Biden’s victory and was one of the last global leaders to congratulate him on his triumph over the Republican.
That’s why a nod to Lula is considered important in the US government. The White House knows that the PT will not be an automatic ally and that there will be programmatic differences, but the president-elect is considered a pragmatic and experienced politician, with whom it is possible to sit down to negotiate.
In addition, it can be an important partner in the climate agenda and in specific demands in the region, such as Venezuela, where a good dialogue with Maduro can make Lula a bridge between Washington and Caracas. The energy crisis generated by the War in Ukraine has provoked what some describe as the beginning of an appeasement with the Chavistas. Recently, Biden removed sanctions against the Venezuelan regime, thawed assets and authorized the American Chevron to re-extract oil in the country.
Another issue is a possible return of the Brazilian military to Haiti, who participated in the UN mission there from 2004 to 2017. Regarding this point, however, there is, according to a member of the transition team Sheetresistance on the PT’s team, especially due to the little support received in the social and economic actions needed in the country, especially after the 2010 earthquake, which left more than 100,000 dead.
Lula could still be useful in a multilateral negotiation in the Ukraine War, said Ricardo Zúniga, assistant secretary for the Western Hemisphere at the US State Department and a former consul in São Paulo. “Brazil is a great multilateral actor and has a long legacy of involvement in peace processes, in the search for multilateral solutions to some of the most complex security problems,” he said this week at an event at Harvard University, organized by the Future of Diplomacy Project.
All these themes can now be taken to Brasilia by Sullivan, but there are doubts as to whether they will even be put on the table in a first official meeting between the two teams. More likely, concrete requests from the US government will be made at high-level meetings in the US capital.
According to the official schedule, Sullivan will speak on the climate crisis, food security, democracy promotion and regional migration. A meeting with Senator Jaques Wagner (PT) is planned, but a meeting with Lula is not ruled out. The American will also meet with authorities of the current government – he will be received by Admiral Flávio Rocha, Secretary of Strategic Affairs.
Finally, although a trip before the inauguration draws attention, it would not be the first reception in Washington in this context. Lula himself went to the US capital in 2002 shortly after being elected to meet with former president George W. Bush — on the occasion, the then Brazilian ambassador promoted a dinner for PT members, who also met with US lawmakers and investors .
With a wealth of experience honed over 4+ years in journalism, I bring a seasoned voice to the world of news. Currently, I work as a freelance writer and editor, always seeking new opportunities to tell compelling stories in the field of world news.
