When Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was sworn in in January, many policymakers in the West breathed a sigh of relief. Four years of Jair Bolsonaro’s reactionary politics had undermined Western engagement with Brazil and worried Western liberal democracies about the resurgence of far-right politics in South America.
The staunch support Lula received from Western capitals, especially from Washington, when Bolsonaro’s followers attacked government buildings in the Brazilian capital shortly after the inauguration, was meant to solidify this “reset” in relations.
But when the United States and its European allies pressed the Brazilian president to take a stance on the raging war in Ukraine, the response they got was not what they had hoped for.
Apart from voting in favour of a United Nations resolution condemning the Russian aggression, Brazil under the new administration did not take a clear side in the conflict.
Lula refused to enter the anti-Russia camp by joining the sanctions regime or arming Ukraine and continued to toe the neutrality line set by his right-wing predecessor.
To expect Brazil to fully align with the West on the war in Ukraine is, of course, naïve. From a Global South perspective, Lula’s stance makes sense. He is not only defending vital national interests related to Brazilian agribusiness, but is also ideologically consistent with the neutral position Brazil occupies in global politics.
Yet, domestic concerns and diplomatic continuity should not prevent the Brazilian government from extending solidarity to Ukraine, the victim of aggression by a former colonial power.
Domestic considerations
During his election campaign in 2022, Lula banked on his previous success and raised hopes among Brazil’s poor that his new administration will repeat past socioeconomic policies.
During his first two terms (2003-10), the global boom in commodity prices allowed his government to boost public spending. The extra revenues were redirected to massive income transfer policies, like Bolsa Familia, the social programme which became his trademark and which lifted about 36 million people out of extreme poverty.
But today, the situation in Brazil is quite different, considering the internal political polarisations and difficult economic situation marked by high inflation, slow growth and a sluggish private sector.
That is why, when putting together his foreign policy, Lula has to keep in mind the economic interests of industries, which contribute large chunks of state revenue. When examining relations with Russia, one of the key sectors to consider is agribusiness, which accounts for about 25 percent of the Brazilian gross domestic product (GDP) and 48 percent of the country’s total exports.
The productivity of Brazilian agriculture depends on the massive use of fertilisers, especially NPK (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium compounds). Brazil is the largest importer of NPK in the world, and Russia is its biggest seller, meeting 22 percent of Brazilian demand.
Joining the Western sanctions regime on Moscow would certainly disrupt the steady supply of Russian fertilisers and affect agricultural exports. This in turn would not only anger big agribusiness which has a sizable lobby in the Brazilian parliament, but would also affect the government revenue stream from agricultural exports.
Lula’s calculations are simple: To finance social policies and recover the electorate that swung to the extreme right, he needs economic stability and sources of revenue; the trade relationship with Russia plays a significant role in this equation.
Non-alignment in the 21st century
Brazil under Lula is not alone in pursuing its own interests when considering its position on the war in Ukraine. Governments across the Global South do not want to get involved because they think they stand to lose a lot if they do.
Last year, the war and the subsequent sanctions took a toll on poorer countries as the prices of grains and fuel skyrocketed. Developing nations can ill afford to stoke the crisis further by taking sides in a war that concerns them little and potentially threatens their supplies of grain.
Across the Global South, there is a general feeling that Europe and the US are disregarding global economic stability and the wellbeing of poorer nations in their rush to arm and aid Ukraine.
Many also perceive the Western backing for Kyiv as a continuation of the long record of Western interventions across the world. In this sense, the Brazilian government and others in the Global South do not see the West as having the moral authority to demand support for their military efforts in Ukraine. The locus classicus of this line of reasoning is the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, which Washington launched, despite having no authorisation from the UN Security Council.
In the context of growing tensions between the West and China and Russia, Lula has attempted to establish a geopolitical ground analogous to the non-aligned movement during the Cold War. In foreign visits, he has emphasised Brazil’s neutrality and has called for South-South solidarity, even calling for the de-dollarisation of international trade.
He has appealed for peace, proposing a new initiative – a “peace club” in an effort to jumpstart negotiations between Ukraine and Russia.
Moscow has given a nod to the initiative, but Kyiv has rejected it outright, while the US has accused the Brazilian leader of “parroting Russian and Chinese propaganda”.
Lula’s subsequent comments that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy are both to blame for the war and that Ukraine will have to give up its claim on the Crimean Peninsula have not helped. Attempts at damage control by the presidency, clearly condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine and declining the Russian invitation to participate in the St Petersburg Economic Forum have not worked.
Lula’s attempt at conjuring a new non-aligned movement has failed and, in the process, he seems to have lost some of the international standing he had built during his previous terms.
The pitfall of Third-Worldism
There is a contradiction in Lula’s appeal for a 21st-century Third-Worldism vis-à-vis the war in Ukraine. Although he is right to criticise Western interventionism, his critique falls short when considering Ukrainian history and current standing.
The country, one of the poorest in Europe, has a brutal colonial past similar to Brazil’s and the rest of Latin America’s. It is not, by any means, a nation of the Global North, which has enriched itself through the domination of other peoples.
At the same time, Ukraine cannot be reduced to a victim of forced Westernisation or a NATO puppet. Doing so would ignore the Ukrainian struggle for national liberation and independence and would legitimise Russian aggression and colonialist pretences.
In this sense, were Brazil to extend support to Ukraine, it would be an expression of South-South solidarity – one that sees through the propaganda from Western, but also from Eastern powers.
In extending a hand to Kyiv, Lula can reject not only the simplistic Western narrative of “Western liberal democracy vs Eastern authoritarianism”, but also the equally hypocritical discourse of “the West vs the rest” that turns a blind eye to aggression by regional powers, autocratic brutality, and repression of minorities in the Global South.
The Brazilian government also cannot ignore the growing evidence of shocking war crimes committed by Russian forces in Ukraine, which is refuting any claims of symmetry within this conflict. Lula cannot present himself as a messenger of peace, leading a country historically committed to human rights and social justice, while disregarding major violations of international human rights and humanitarian law.
The Russian aggression in Ukraine and the apologetic narrative of the Kremlin are challenging the legitimacy of the international legal system that the Brazilian state, a UN founding member, has supported since 1945. Putin’s multi-imperialist vision of the world in which nuclear powers divide it into spheres of influence directly contradicts the multilateralism and egalitarianism that Brazil has defended for the past 75 years.
Lula seems to be trapped in old Cold War dilemmas in a world that is no longer bipolar. The alternative to the unilateralism of US President George W Bush that marked the invasion of Iraq in 2003 cannot be the multi-imperialism of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
If the Brazilian president really wishes to promote multilateralism and uphold international law, then he must unequivocally express solidarity with Ukraine and condemn Russian aggression. From this position, he can then proceed to lead multinational mediation efforts, putting together a coalition of willing partners along with China and India.
HALIFAX – Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston says it’s “disgraceful and demeaning” that a Halifax-area school would request that service members not wear military uniforms to its Remembrance Day ceremony.
Houston’s comments were part of a chorus of criticism levelled at the school — Sackville Heights Elementary — whose administration decided to back away from the plan after the outcry.
A November newsletter from the school in Middle Sackville, N.S., invited Armed Forces members to attend its ceremony but asked that all attendees arrive in civilian attire to “maintain a welcoming environment for all.”
Houston, who is currently running for re-election, accused the school’s leaders of “disgracing themselves while demeaning the people who protect our country” in a post on the social media platform X Thursday night.
“If the people behind this decision had a shred of the courage that our veterans have, this cowardly and insulting idea would have been rejected immediately,” Houston’s post read. There were also several calls for resignations within the school’s administration attached to Houston’s post.
In an email to families Thursday night, the school’s principal, Rachael Webster, apologized and welcomed military family members to attend “in the attire that makes them most comfortable.”
“I recognize this request has caused harm and I am deeply sorry,” Webster’s email read, adding later that the school has the “utmost respect for what the uniform represents.”
Webster said the initial request was out of concern for some students who come from countries experiencing conflict and who she said expressed discomfort with images of war, including military uniforms.
Her email said any students who have concerns about seeing Armed Forces members in uniform can be accommodated in a way that makes them feel safe, but she provided no further details in the message.
Webster did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
At a news conference Friday, Houston said he’s glad the initial request was reversed but said he is still concerned.
“I can’t actually fathom how a decision like that was made,” Houston told reporters Friday, adding that he grew up moving between military bases around the country while his father was in the Armed Forces.
“My story of growing up in a military family is not unique in our province. The tradition of service is something so many of us share,” he said.
“Saying ‘lest we forget’ is a solemn promise to the fallen. It’s our commitment to those that continue to serve and our commitment that we will pass on our respects to the next generation.”
Liberal Leader Zach Churchill also said he’s happy with the school’s decision to allow uniformed Armed Forces members to attend the ceremony, but he said he didn’t think it was fair to question the intentions of those behind the original decision.
“We need to have them (uniforms) on display at Remembrance Day,” he said. “Not only are we celebrating (veterans) … we’re also commemorating our dead who gave the greatest sacrifice for our country and for the freedoms we have.”
NDP Leader Claudia Chender said that while Remembrance Day is an important occasion to honour veterans and current service members’ sacrifices, she said she hopes Houston wasn’t taking advantage of the decision to “play politics with this solemn occasion for his own political gain.”
“I hope Tim Houston reached out to the principal of the school before making a public statement,” she said in a statement.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
REGINA – Saskatchewan Opposition NDP Leader Carla Beck says she wants to prove to residents her party is the government in waiting as she heads into the incoming legislative session.
Beck held her first caucus meeting with 27 members, nearly double than what she had before the Oct. 28 election but short of the 31 required to form a majority in the 61-seat legislature.
She says her priorities will be health care and cost-of-living issues.
Beck says people need affordability help right now and will press Premier Scott Moe’s Saskatchewan Party government to cut the gas tax and the provincial sales tax on children’s clothing and some grocery items.
Beck’s NDP is Saskatchewan’s largest Opposition in nearly two decades after sweeping Regina and winning all but one seat in Saskatoon.
The Saskatchewan Party won 34 seats, retaining its hold on all of the rural ridings and smaller cities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
HALIFAX – Nova Scotia‘s growing population was the subject of debate on Day 12 of the provincial election campaign, with Liberal Leader Zach Churchill arguing immigration levels must be reduced until the province can provide enough housing and health-care services.
Churchill said Thursday a plan by the incumbent Progressive Conservatives to double the province’s population to two million people by the year 2060 is unrealistic and unsustainable.
“That’s a big leap and it’s making life harder for people who live here, (including ) young people looking for a place to live and seniors looking to downsize,” he told a news conference at his campaign headquarters in Halifax.
Anticipating that his call for less immigration might provoke protests from the immigrant community, Churchill was careful to note that he is among the third generation of a family that moved to Nova Scotia from Lebanon.
“I know the value of immigration, the importance of it to our province. We have been built on the backs of an immigrant population. But we just need to do it in a responsible way.”
The Liberal leader said Tim Houston’s Tories, who are seeking a second term in office, have made a mistake by exceeding immigration targets set by the province’s Department of Labour and Immigration. Churchill said a Liberal government would abide by the department’s targets.
In the most recent fiscal year, the government welcomed almost 12,000 immigrants through its nominee program, exceeding the department’s limit by more than 4,000, he said. The numbers aren’t huge, but the increase won’t help ease the province’s shortages in housing and doctors, and the increased strain on its infrastructure, including roads, schools and cellphone networks, Churchill said.
“(The Immigration Department) has done the hard work on this,” he said. “They know where the labour gaps are, and they know what growth is sustainable.”
In response, Houston said his commitment to double the population was a “stretch goal.” And he said the province had long struggled with a declining population before that trend was recently reversed.
“The only immigration that can come into this province at this time is if they are a skilled trade worker or a health-care worker,” Houston said. “The population has grown by two per cent a year, actually quite similar growth to what we experienced under the Liberal government before us.”
Still, Houston said he’s heard Nova Scotians’ concerns about population growth, and he then pivoted to criticize Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for trying to send 6,000 asylum seekers to Nova Scotia, an assertion the federal government has denied.
Churchill said Houston’s claim about asylum seekers was shameful.
“It’s smoke and mirrors,” the Liberal leader said. “He is overshooting his own department’s numbers for sustainable population growth and yet he is trying to blame this on asylum seekers … who aren’t even here.”
In September, federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller said there is no plan to send any asylum seekers to the province without compensation or the consent of the premier. He said the 6,000 number was an “aspirational” figure based on models that reflect each province’s population.
In Halifax, NDP Leader Claudia Chender said it’s clear Nova Scotia needs more doctors, nurses and skilled trades people.
“Immigration has been and always will be a part of the Nova Scotia story, but we need to build as we grow,” Chender said. “This is why we have been pushing the Houston government to build more affordable housing.”
Chender was in a Halifax cafe on Thursday when she promised her party would remove the province’s portion of the harmonized sales tax from all grocery, cellphone and internet bills if elected to govern on Nov. 26. The tax would also be removed from the sale and installation of heat pumps.
“Our focus is on helping people to afford their lives,” Chender told reporters. “We know there are certain things that you can’t live without: food, internet and a phone …. So we know this will have the single biggest impact.”
The party estimates the measure would save the average Nova Scotia family about $1,300 a year.
“That’s a lot more than a one or two per cent HST cut,” Chender said, referring to the Progressive Conservative pledge to reduce the tax by one percentage point and the Liberal promise to trim it by two percentage points.
Elsewhere on the campaign trail, Houston announced that a Progressive Conservative government would make parking free at all Nova Scotia hospitals and health-care centres. The promise was also made by the Liberals in their election platform released Monday.
“Free parking may not seem like a big deal to some, but … the parking, especially for people working at the facilities, can add up to hundreds of dollars,” the premier told a news conference at his campaign headquarters in Halifax.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
