There are no two without three. Lula's third term in Brazil
By: José Antonio Friedl Zapata - 02/06/2023
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On the night of February 10 of this year, in the midst of an impressive electrical storm, a powerful lightning strike struck the iconic Christ the Redeemer on the Corcovado hill in Rio de Janeiro, destroying part of the gigantic statue. A Brazilian photographer, Fernando Braga, was able to capture this dramatic moment for posterity. The very religious but also superstitious Brazilian people considered this event as a very negative sign for their future under the new Lula government that a few weeks before, on January 1, 2023, took possession of the country for the third time.
The first weeks of Lula's term confirm that we do not have to expect anything good in the largest and most powerful country on the Latin American continent, and the restlessness and anxiety are not only felt within the country but also in international democratic spheres. Let's not forget the radical ideology of the Workers' Party, the PT, which supports Lula, responsible in turn for the creation of the evil Forum of Sao Paulo and its criminal recipes. Let's not overlook the strong support that this new Administration is giving to organizations like Celac and others with few democratic credentials. In the few weeks that Lula has been in charge of the country, Brazil has joined the red tide of the Marxist extreme left that is flooding our continent. Lula's closeness to the Latin American dictatorial governments, whether these are Venezuela, Nicaragua, Cuba, Bolivia, Colombia, Chile and those who are on the waiting list such as Mexico, Argentina, Ecuador, Peru, it is more than evident. The West expected Lula da Silva to be his partner, but the Brazilian president had other plans. The visit last April of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to the leaders of the most hideous dictatorships on the continent, including Brazil, suggests that Lula has become close to these totalitarian countries, which is simply shameful. In the last CELAC meeting held in Buenos Aires in January of this year, the ideological course of the new Brazilian government was clearly seen, in clear contrast to the courageous declarations of the current president of Uruguay, Luis Lacalle Pou, who stated: “There are countries represented here that do not respect democracy or human rights, nor the institutions.” And on another occasion, Lacalle Pou declared emphatically: “The red tide of the left will not reach Uruguay”. The Celac meeting, which brings together 33 countries, ended up being a celebration of the Latin American dictatorships, a summit that anointed Lula in a country, Argentina, whose democracy is falling apart.
In internal politics we are witnessing in Brazil an alarming delay in basic freedoms. In charge of this dangerous totalitarian onslaught is a close friend of Lula, Alexander de Moraes, who is not only president of the country's Supreme Electoral Court, but also an important judge of the Brazilian Supreme Court of Justice, thus accumulating in their hands enormous power with great political weight. Alexander de Moraes is questioned not only by conservative groups, Bolsonaristas, but also by groups on the left who want to enforce equal justice for all citizens. He fears that Brazil is already becoming a judicial dictatorship, a kind of "juristocracy."
Alexander de Moraes, a Brazilian mix of Rasputin, Richelieu, with elements of Goebbels, has earned the name Robocop among the population for his brutal methods of delivering justice, or what he understands by justice. It is currently carrying out a real witch hunt against members of the country's political opposition, against independent journalists, against national and international media that dare to criticize the totalitarian features of the current government, which puts the current Brazil's democracy of Lula, an ex-convict who was never found innocent. The ruthless persecution of journalists, singers, artists, and comedians is the order of the day. Such is the case of the international journalist Glenn Greenwald, of the journalist Oswald Eustaquio,
This totalitarian control also applies internationally. According to the persecuted international journalist Glenn Greenwald "de Moraes has become the head of censorship not only in Brazil but in the world because he orders foreign platforms to exclude politicians and journalists who oppose the regime from their news." Even the billionaire businessman, owner of Twitter, Elon Musk publicly said he was concerned about the media situation in Brazil today.
Since Lula does not have a majority in congress, Alexander de Moraes tries to neutralize this situation in any way. In recent weeks, he has already managed to get ten prominent members of Congress eliminated by social networks, precisely those who received the most votes. Thirsty for power, and with the support of Lula, under the hypocrisy of saving democracy, he is destroying it by leaps and bounds, forgetting that almost half of Brazilians voted against Lula, and that he won by a tiny margin. How to be vengeful and whatever, he won't rest until he sees Bolsonaro behind bars.
In his recent and voluminous international diplomatic tour, Lula showed his true anti-Western ideology; he took off his mask, fully surrendering himself to economic dependence on China and Russia, which have now become his most important partners. The West expected her to be his ally, but the Brazilian president had other plans. In the future Lula will use the countries of the so-called BRICS-Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa-in order to gain international power and satisfy his ego. He also achieved another great triumph by placing the ousted and corrupt former president Dilma Rousseff at the head of the bank of the BRICS countries, the NDB, New Development Bank, based in Shanghai, thus having an additional box for his delusions of grandeur. and international influence.
It is sad to witness leaders of democratic countries surrender at his feet without a word, like the president of the Spanish government, Pedro Sánchez, who laid out a red carpet for him during his official visit, Lula even daring to scold him for his foreign policy. US President Joe Biden, in turn, received him at the White House as a friend and opened the doors for him as the decisive interlocutor in Latin America. His controversial phrase: "Our democracies were put to the test, but they prevailed" indicates the personal rapprochement between the two world leaders. The evaluation of John Kirby, spokesman for the US National Security Council, however, was very different, stating a few weeks later that "Brazil and Lula parrot the propaganda of Russia and China." In Europe, the only president who remained quite distant from Lula's proposals has been German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and the majority of the German press expressed great doubts about the foreign policy of the current Brazilian government. It is evident that all this Brazilian diplomatic strategy also has the purpose of catapulting Lula as the next candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize nomination, counting on the sure endorsement of the Latin American countries of 21st century socialism.
Difficult years await the Brazilian people until the next elections are held in 2026. Fortunately, the country already has excellent opposition candidates, as pointed out by the president of the Chamber of Deputies Arthur Lira, among them the current governors from the States of Rio de Janeiro Claudio Castro, from Minas Gerais Romeu Zema and from São Paulo, Tarcisio de Freitas, who will be careful not to repeat Bolsonaro's mistakes. Until now, Lula has ruled out the possibility of participating in the 2026 presidential contest for reasons of his advanced age. He said in his own words: "He would be 81 years old and nature is relentless." But at the same time, he leaves the door open to continue in charge of the country in case the situation in Brazil demands it.
Jose Antonio Friedl Zapata
Political Scientist – Latin Americanist – Independent Journalist
Author of several books with Latin American themes
«The opinions published herein are the sole responsibility of its author».