Lula’s diplomatic capital varies according to political terrain – 01/25/2023 – Bruno Boghossian

After meeting the Uruguayan president, Lula stated that his relationship with political leaders from other countries will not have an ideological bias. “Presidents don’t need to think like me,” declared the Brazilian.

One of the objectives of the inaugural trip of the third Lula administration was a symbolic adjustment in Brazilian diplomacy. In 24 hours, the petista smiled alongside leftist Alberto Fernández (whom he called “comrade and friend”) in Argentina and posed for photos with Luis Lacalle Pou, who heads a center-right government in Uruguay.

With little subtlety, Lula wanted to mark differences with a predecessor that chose to offend any country that leaned towards the center or to the left. In Buenos Aires, the petista apologized to Argentines “for all the rudeness” of Jair Bolsonaro and offered Uruguayans a commitment to cooperation regardless of party color.

The movement received mixed reception on both sides of the border. With the Argentines, Lula spoke the same language about regional integration, commercial interests and Mercosur. The environment seemed so comfortable that the PT gave fuel to the incipient plan to create a common currency for commerce.

In Uruguay, the exhibitions were less harmonious. Lacalle Pou publicly reaffirmed Uruguay’s desire to negotiate agreements with China – even though Brazil is against the idea. Lula recognized his right to seek commercial gains and only suggested that Mercosur talk to the Asian country as a bloc, in a future that is still uncertain.

Lula knows that the value of his diplomatic capital varies according to the terrain. At least in the initial stages of its return to power, the government’s foreign policy will have more force when some political affinities are present.

The effectiveness should be tested on Lula’s trip to the US, in February. With Joe Biden, the Brazilian will try to take advantage of a common agenda that aims to denounce and isolate the threat of the extreme right.

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