Lula da Silva, between the United States and China, as “Mrs. Flor and her two husbands”

Unlike the character created by the brilliant pen of Jorge Amado – a widow who had a living relationship with her dead husband and another with a pharmacist in her city – the president of Brazil Lula da Silva it has a simultaneous and dynamic relationship with the 2 great poles of world power: the United States and China. Both are “alive and well”, operate very actively around the world and compete for world hegemony.

We were few and the grandmother gave birth….in the midst of the conflict that characterizes the 21st century, the Russian autocrat -Vladimir Putin- launches the bloody occupation of Ukraine. But this is not a war but one battle of the central conflict which, in addition to directly affecting the Ukrainian people, has repercussions on international food and energy prices.

Meanwhile, the 2 main players, the United States and China, position themselves on both sides of the contenders – Russia and Ukraine – in different ways: Washington and its NATO allies – the European Union – provide Ukraine defensive weapons They don’t send him missiles or long-range fighters that would allow him to attack the aggressor in his territory – a to brake Putin, but not to extend the conflict.

China, on the other hand, remains formally neutraland proposes a peace plan, but from a perspective clearly positioned on the Russian side, whom he considers his close ally.

Brazilian power

In this scenario, Brazil looks like a mediating power and then communicates this to its core partners.

Brazil is one of the “major non-NATO allies of the United States”. and has China as its main trading partner – an annual trade of $150,000 million and a Brazilian surplus of more than $30,000 million – while Russia is its largest supplier of fertilizers. The other 2 are China and Belarus. Those fertilizers are vital integrate the capacity of the Brazilian soil and its millionaire agricultural production which, with the iron ore, are its main export products.

Brazil – and Lula in particular – have already tried to mediate in 2010 in the conflict between the United States and Iran. Such management has not thrived. Nothing indicates that his attempt is now having any more luck.

dispute

Washington has its say dislike for this Brazilian position, expressed by Lula during his visit to Beijing and with a crossing of trips -his main adviser, Celso Amorin in Moscow and the visit of Foreign Minister Serguei Lavrov to Brasilia- which raised a lot of fuss.

For us Argentines, that clearly we unanimously voted against invasion of Ukraine, we can do nothing but wish our neighbor and strategic partner the best of luck in their attempt at appeasement (whether or not it succeeds) which is always commendable.

Recall that Argentina is also “the main non-NATO partner of the United States”. AND we have China as our main agro-industrial partner.

Faced with the new geopolitical challenges posed by the 21st century, Brazilians and Argentines must learn to face them in a balanced way, judiciously interpreting our regional interests and our responsibility to contribute to peace and progress global.

*Former Argentine Ambassador to the US, EU, China and Brazil.