BY OLIVER STUENKEL
MARCH 27, 2024
Brazil’s president has restored his country’s international reputation, but his provocative gestures are bedeviling progress on his top goals.
Lula’s Unforced Errors Are Taking a Toll on the World’s Goodwill
SÃO PAULO — In early 2022, with little more than eight months to go before Brazil’s presidential elections, Jair Bolsonaro made a rather unusual request to his foreign minister, Carlos França.
Bolsonaro’s opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, was being fêted across European capitals and received a statesman-like reception in Madrid and Paris, promising Brazilian voters he would overcome the country’s diplomatic isolation under Bolsonaro. Eager not to let Lula’s argument stand, Bolsonaro asked França to organize bilateral meetings with international leaders, preferably in the West—quite a challenge, given that governments across Europe and North America did little to hide their preference for Lula, seen as a far more reliable partner than Bolsonaro.
In the end, only two leaders were willing to host Bolsonaro: Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, who agreed to a brief photo-op while on the campaign trail for reelection, and Vladimir Putin, who, five days after the visit, would initiate Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
More than a year into Lula’s third term, the West’s hopes have been largely fulfilled. Brazil is yet again fully committed to strengthening multilateralism, it has made more progress in fighting deforestation than many experts expected, and it has normalized ties to countries from around the world. Brazil’s priorities during its G20 presidency—combating hunger, promoting sustainable development and reforming international institutions—are widely considered sensible, and both Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira and G20 sherpa…
