Lula’s controversial tenure at the UN: from his criticism of Zelensky and Israel to his silence on Venezuela

Attendance of the President Lula in 79. United Nations General Assembly created a debate in Brazil about issues that affect not only the foreign policy of the Latin American country, but also the environment and the economy. Regarding foreign policy, in Lula’s speech, according to several political analysts and dichotomy. On the one hand, the Brazilian president attacked Israel for defending Palestine and responded harshly to criticism from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky; On the other hand, he was silent about the Venezuelan drama, unlike Joe Biden, who criticized Maduro as soon as he spoke. According to the news portal UOLin the draft of Lula’s speech, the Venezuelan question was included in the text, but without condemning Maduro, in order to avoid, writes Jamil Chade, “the interruption of the possibility of dialogue”. Brazil also declined an invitation to participate in an event organized by the United States and Argentina to condemn serious human rights violations in Venezuela. According to Chade, Lula’s government “believed that this initiative could undermine its ability to keep channels open with the Maduro government to seek a solution to the crisis.”

While Lula was silent on Venezuela, he did not mean to attack Israel. “What began as a terrorist act by fanatics against innocent Israeli civilians has become a collective punishment of the entire Palestinian people. The right to defense has become the right to revenge, which is preventing the hostage release agreement and delaying the ceasefire,” he said. At the beginning of his speech, his first words were addressed to the Palestinian delegation. “I am particularly addressing the Palestinian delegation, which is participating in this constituent session for the first time, although still as an observer. And I want to welcome the presence of President Mahmoud Abbas,” he said.

after his speech, Lula met with the president of the Palestinian Authority, Abbasa meeting described by the Brazilian’s entourage as “quick and warm”. Abbas thanked Lula for his speech in support of Palestine. “We know your courage in defending Palestine,” he told him. In response, Lula declared that “what Israel is doing is unacceptable” and expressed satisfaction with Palestine’s inclusion in the UN system. The Brazilian president dedicated a post on Instagram to the meeting. “I met at the UN with the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas. This is the first time they have attended the UN General Assembly as observers. “I expressed my solidarity with the suffering of Palestinian women and children due to the violence and the need for an immediate ceasefire,” Lula wrote.

In an interview with journalists Lula then attacked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “He was tried by the International Court that tried Putin, and he is being tried in the same way,” he said, adding that “several attempts at peace and a ceasefire have been approved, but he simply does not respect them.” More efforts are needed to stop this genocide. I strongly condemn this behavior of the Israeli government. “I am sure that the majority of the Israeli people do not agree with this genocide.” In his meeting with journalists, Lula also said that “it is important to remember that when it all started, Israel said that according to the Israeli government there were 1,405 dead; then the number dropped to 139″. At the end of the meeting, he was forced to correct his claim, saying that the Israeli government had acknowledged 1,139 deaths. The Brazilian Israeli Confederation (CONIB) reacted immediately, condemning the “unbalanced attitude” of the Brazilian government in a statement. “This conflict was not started by Israel, but by Hamas when it brutally attacked Israeli citizens on October 7,” the text reads. “Both groups, Hamas and Hezbollah, are supported and financed by Iran, of which Brazil has become a great ally. The Brazilian government can greatly help the solution if it intercedes with Iran to contain Hamas and Hezbollah,” the statement continued.

Regarding the conflict in UkraineIn his opening address to the General Assembly, Lula stated that “It is now clear that neither side will achieve all of their goals through military means.” and then repeated his proposal for peace with China. “Creating the conditions for the resumption of direct dialogue between the parties is crucial at this time. “This is the message of the six-point understanding that China and Brazil offer to establish a dialogue process and end hostilities,” he said. The next day, Zelenskyy responded to Lula’s words in his speech. “When the Chinese-Brazilian duo tries to become a chorus of voices, when someone in Europe, someone in Africa says something alternative for a full and just peace, the question arises: what is the real interest behind it?” The Ukrainian president also said that “vague settlement plans” like the one proposed by Brazil and China “not only ignore the suffering of Ukrainians in the war, but give Putin political space to continue the war and push the world into submission.” more nations under its control.” Referring to Lulu and the oft-mentioned possibility of a Nobel Peace Prize in the Brazilian press, Zelenskiy said that “the recipe for peace has been there for two years. Maybe someone wants a Nobel Prize for their political biography, for a frozen truce instead real peace, but the only prices that Putin will give in return will be more suffering and disasters,” he said. Referring to his counterpart Zelensky, he told reporters that “if I was smart, I would say that the solution is diplomatic. , not military. It depends on the ability to sit down and talk. Listen to the other side and try to reach an agreement.”

In his newspaper column State of São Paulojournalist CNN Brazil William Joseph Waack write that”By choosing a side, Lula threw away all his credentials as a mediator in conflicts like the one in Ukraine.but he believes he is smart to rely on a group of countries he sees as winners (Russia and China). By not following the policy, you have forfeited your claim to be heard as a voice with the authority to demand compliance. The voice of the weak, as he likes to see himself; a victim of the brutality of the powerful. Brazil has never had much coercive power. Now he’s even lost the persuasive ones.”

Even the environmental agenda has generated as much debate in the international press as in Brazil.. At the United Nations, Lula said the world was “fed up with unfulfilled climate agreements” and that the federal government was “not taking responsibility.” The words spoken as Brazil faces its worst fire in 20 years. If he The Washington Post a headline that read “Lula speaks on climate at UN, but Amazon fires weaken his message”, the criticism was greater at home. Vera Magalhãesová write to Or the Globe that the issue of the fires not only “overshadowed Lula’s UN speech and forced him to resort to international geopolitics to divert attention from the vexing problem”, but will seriously damage the economy and environmental data in 2024. “The measures announced so far, apart from being insufficient, were adopted late and largely at the behest of the Supreme Federal Court, politically weakening an elected government with a discourse strongly anchored in recognition of the climate crisis and a promise to be implacable against it.” Stela Herschmannan international policy advisor to the non-governmental organization Climate Observatory, said that “if Brazil wants to lead by example on the climate agenda, the president should show what that means in practice, for example how it will move away from fossil fuels”. Paradoxically, it was on the sidelines of the UN assembly that Lula personally met with Shell executives interested in oil exploration in the Equatorial Margin, at the mouth of the Amazon. The meeting was not on their official agenda. Lula told reporters that he saw no contradiction in his gesture. “Shell will only enter the Equatorial Range if the government allows Petrobras to go into the Equatorial Range,” he added.

As regards Chinajust as the Brazilian president was in New York, a Hong Kong newspaper, South China Morning Postrevealed that “Brazilian government officials are working with China on details to join the Belt and Road Initiative”. The paper, owned by China’s Alibaba Group, also revealed that “due to concerns about relations with Washington, Brazil’s president has been asked to delay the announcement until after the US presidential election.” According to South China Morning PostThe Chinese embassy in Brazil informed the Brazilian presidency of its intention to formalize accession during Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s visit to the country in November. “Diplomats who favor delaying the announcement of Brazil’s accession to the Belt and Road Initiative fear that Lula’s preference for Harris, combined with Brazil’s entry into the Chinese initiative, could complicate relations with a possible Trump administration in 2025. The aim is to avoid the impression that that Brazil is joining China in an anti-US alliance,” the article reads. In August, China’s ambassador to Brazil, Zhu Qingqiao, called Brazil’s accession a “fundamental measure”. “We believe that the initiative is very coherent with the Lula government’s development strategy, such as its reindustrialization plans, South American integration paths and the growth acceleration project,” he said.

Lula also attended a dinner in New York at the home of Marcel Claure, vice president of Shein, a Chinese fast fashion company that was already criticized in the UK last June by the human rights group Stop Uyghur Genocide, which condemns the Uyghur minority. used as forced labor by some Shein cotton suppliers in the northwestern Xinjiang region of China. According to Poder 360, representatives of sovereign wealth funds from Saudi Arabia and Qatar were also present at the dinner. Referring to Lulu Claure, he wrote on his social networks that “his words were exceptional and highlighted the opportunities that Brazil offers to foreign investors”.

In relation to the issue of foreign investment, Lula wanted to meet personally with his Minister of Economy, Fernando Haddad, for the first time in his three mandates outside the UN Assembly, alongside representatives of the three main rating agencies. , S&P Global Ratings, Moody’s and Fitch Ratings. “I called the rating agencies because it is important for the agencies to hear from the President of the Republic what is happening in the country,” he said. “It is not necessary to listen only to the market. It is not necessary to listen only to marketers. It is necessary to listen to the workers and the president of the republic,” he added, adding that the risk agencies were also “respectful” and listened to Haddad and representatives of the Brazilian Ministry of Finance. Brazil currently needs two more levels to restore a “firm capacity to service its debt”. Lula told reporters that “the Brazilian economy is positively surprising Brazilian and foreign markets.” The minister said he hopes Brazil can raise another level in one or two rating agencies next year. “I told the president that it is very challenging to do it by 2026. But we will work on it. It doesn’t make a lot of sense that Brazil doesn’t have the level of investment,” Haddad said.