Surprisingly, after the recent announcement by the presidents of Argentina and Brazil that both countries they would revert to the almost defunct Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), a stone has fallen in the way of their mutual wishes for regional integration.
It is not that Kirchnerism and PT do not coincide. It is that the circumstances of both find them today at the antipodes, or at least very distant, in matters of foreign policy. Especially with regard to the most sensitive issues on the international scene.
It happens that its deep economic crisis, necessity, has left the government strongly conditioned in its relations with the United States. Meanwhile, Lula da Silva been involved in an accident with the Joe Biden administration for the geo-strategic embrace that the president gave to Vladimir Putin, in the middle of the war in Ukraine, and to Xi Jinping, in full escalation between Washington and Beijing.
The new scenario deserves a double enumeration of the facts.
What happened
On February 3, 2022, Alberto Fernández offered Putin that Argentina was Latin America’s gateway to Russia. There were 21 days left before the invasion of Ukraine.
On that trip to Moscow and Beijing, the Argentine president also hinted that the United States was not helping Argentina. It was only days before the State Department passed it on through the newspaper The nation and in a loud voice-over, his anger not because of Fernández’s sayings and actions.
From then on the Argentina’s turn was 180 degrees. Both Fernández and Foreign Minister Santiago Cafiero have begun condemning the invasion of Ukraine in all international fora.
The arrival of Sergio Massa at the Ministry of Economy, Agriculture and Production accentuated the alliance with the United States. Although Alberto Fernández has signed Argentina’s accession to the so-called China Silk Road, which commits the country to a series of works and investments, the 23 projects are in force but no one has really started.
Above all, China’s entry into the construction of the Ushuaia Logistics Pole has been blocked and no decisions have yet been taken on cooperation in the defense field.
Democrats also made gestures. Biden received the president at the White House. And he supported all the negotiations of the Minister of Economy in international organizations. They also look at him as a presidential candidate. Two Washington officials have done so in recent weeks: Wendy Sherman, deputy secretary of state, and General Laura Richardson, head of Southern Command.
The case of Brazil goes in the opposite direction. Lula went from being a President received by Biden just over a month after assuming power to being considered by the White House a parrot” which repeats the propaganda of Russia and China. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said on Monday.
scene objects
By attempting a pendular policy in a world that is no longer the one in which he lived during his presidency between 2003 and 2010, Da Silva has in recent weeks risked bringing together the parties, which cost him only harsh criticism inside and outside Brazil.
“It is with China that we have the most important flow of foreign trade. It is with China that we have had the largest trade balance and it is with China that we try to balance world geopolitics by discussing the big issues,” he said alongside Xi Jinping.
Before that, he had suggested that Ukraine cede the Crimean peninsula to Russia to help end the war, and said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky “no” could want everything.
The response from the Ukrainians came quickly. Ukraine “does not trade with its territories,” said Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko.
On Monday, Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira received his Russian counterpart, Serguei Lavrov, who has been trying to come to Argentina on his tour of Russian allies in Latin America. But it was precisely the former ambassador, ambassador to Moscow, now vice chancellor, Pablo Tettamanti, who got across the message that Argentina did not have the conditions for such a visit.
While The Economist described Lula’s foreign policy as “hyperactive, ambitious and naïve” A few days ago, the Brazilian press punished the president.
The newspaper Valor Económico claimed: “Brazil is preparing the bed for Lavrov to lie down and turn around. During his travels to China and the United Arab Emirates, Lula has, more than once, equaled the position of Ukraine, invaded, and of Russia, invader, when war broke out in February 2022”.
In the end it was Lula who opened the doors to Russia and Alberto to the United States.
Source: Clarin
Mary Ortiz is a seasoned journalist with a passion for world events. As a writer for News Rebeat, she brings a fresh perspective to the latest global happenings and provides in-depth coverage that offers a deeper understanding of the world around us.