Ten questions for two foreign ministers – 04/21/2023 – Demétrio Magnoli

Lula has two foreign ministers: Mauro Vieira, who heads the Itamaraty, and Celso Amorim, a presidential adviser. The first represents the institutional policy, which defined the Brazilian vote in the UN resolution demanding the withdrawal of Russian occupying forces from Ukraine. The second represents the ideological policy, Lula and PT, which reneged on that vote.

I propose ten questions to them, aimed at clarifying Brazil’s official position on the Russian invasion:

1) The UN Charter and the Brazilian Constitution enshrine the principles of national sovereignty and respect for the territorial integrity of nations. Is it on these principles that Brazil supports its intention to help mediate negotiations between Russia and Ukraine?

2) Amorim’s meeting with Putin, in Moscow, followed by Lula’s declarations on his visit to China and the reception of Serguei Lavrov in Brasília, parallel to the absence of visits to Ukraine, indicate that Brazil chose the Russian side. Or is there a different explanation for the diplomatic imbalance?

3) The International Criminal Court (ICC), in which Brazil participates, issued an arrest warrant against Vladimir Putin, for the crime of forced deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia. Itamaraty did not comment on the subject and Amorim visited Putin shortly after the ICC gesture. Did the Brazilian government decide to ignore the ICC?

4) Lavrov declared, in Brasilia, that Russia and Brazil share a “similar position” on the “genesis” of the war in Ukraine. Lula has repeatedly stated that the root of the Russian invasion is the enlargement of NATO – and, furthermore, that the US and its European allies encourage the continuation of the war. Should we conclude from this that, in fact, the Brazilian government agrees with the statement of the Russian chancellor?

5) According to Lula, responsibility for the war lies equally with Putin and Zelensky. Does the Brazilian government not distinguish the aggressor country from the attacked country, the invader from the invaded?

6) The White House classified Lula’s statements as an alignment with Russian war propaganda. Vieira reacted by denying the US government’s interpretation – but he did not deny the veracity of Lavrov’s statement about the similarity between Russian and Brazilian views. Silence gives consent?

7) Traditionally, Amorim abuses the concept of sovereignty, using it to avoid any criticism of friendly dictators who violate human rights. However, it denies solidarity with the nation whose sovereignty is destroyed by a war of aggression designed to promote territorial annexations. In the government’s foreign policy, is sovereignty a principle with general validity or a mere alibi used to justify ideological alignments?

8) Crimea is internationally recognized Ukrainian territory. Russia itself recognized the Ukrainian borders in a treaty signed in 1994 – by which, incidentally, Ukraine handed over its nuclear weapons to Russia. With what right does Lula suggest the cession of Crimea to Russia as a condition for future and hypothetical peace negotiations?

9) The UN Charter supports the principle of “collective self-defence”, that is, the right to provide military assistance to nations that resist unprovoked invasion. Without Western military aid, Ukraine would no longer exist as an independent state. “Peace” through surrender – is this what the government wants when it criticizes such aid?

10) In his statement on dialogue with Lavrov, Vieira mentioned Russian and Ukrainian “security concerns” but did not refer to Russian territorial annexations or Ukrainian sovereignty. Does Lula really intend to be accepted by Ukraine as a mediator of peace negotiations or does he simply invoke the word peace to legitimize Russian imperial narratives?

Adulatory journalism asks, at best, the easy questions. Will there still be journalists willing to confront the two chancellors with the difficult questions?

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