On 21 February Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva met US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Brasília before the start of the two-day G20 foreign ministers’ meeting in Rio de Janeiro.
Analysis:
With Brazil currently holding the G20’s annual rotating presidency, Lula has sought to position Brazil as a leader of the Global South. Critics of Lula have suggested that his recent comments comparing Israel’s military actions in Gaza to the Holocaust have harmed Brazil’s international reputation, but Brazilian officials, such as Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira and Lula’s chief foreign policy advisor Celso Amorim, have defended Lula’s criticisms of Israel. The US government has disagreed with Lula’s accusations that Israel is committing genocide, but Lula and Blinken sought to highlight yesterday that the US-Brazil partnership goes beyond these divergences regarding international conflicts, finding common ground on interests such as tackling the global climate crisis.
- In their meeting yesterday, Lula reiterated his calls for a ceasefire in the conflict in Gaza as well as in Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine; both issues on which the US and Brazil have diverged.
- Blinken called for the release of hostages held by Palestinian militant group Hamas, the increase of humanitarian assistance for civilians in Gaza, and the creation of a Palestinian state, but continued to disagree with Lula’s genocide accusations. Regarding Ukraine, Blinken thanked Lula for participating in a peace formula process, although the US is supporting Ukraine’s defence, while Brazil seeks to remain neutral, reluctant to threaten relations with allies in the Brics group (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates).
- Brazilian media reports have suggested that Lula’s Holocaust comparison comments could be part of a strategy to ride the wave of rising international criticism of Israel. Other countries which have condemned Israel’s actions include South Africa, which has brought a genocide accusation against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, and members of the Arab League; Lula visited the Arab League headquarters in Egypt last week.
- In Rio yesterday, Vieira reiterated Lula’s previous calls to reform the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), such as removing the veto power of the council’s five permanent members (P5). On 20 February the US, a P5 member, exercised its veto to reject Algeria’s draft resolution for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, even though 13 of the 15 UNSC members voted in favour of the ceasefire.
- The G20’s divisions over Ukraine also loomed over the meeting, with Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov facing criticisms from European foreign ministers over the invasion.
- Before heading to Rio yesterday, Lavrov sought to boost ties with Latin American allies, meeting with Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro in Caracas. Lavrov said that he and Maduro agreed to increase their cooperation in oil production and in the peaceful use of nuclear energy. He also said that Russia will seek to expand ties between Venezuela and the Brics group. Maduro said that Venezuelan agricultural exports to Russia are expected to increase that he and Lavrov had agreed to “fortify strategic cooperation”.
Looking Ahead: Blinken will travel to Argentina today (22 February) to meet with the country’s right-wing president, Javier Milei. According to the US State Department the two will discuss bilateral and global issues as well as critical minerals and “sustainable economic growth”. Earlier this week Brian Nichols, a senior US Western Hemisphere official at the US State Department, said that Blinken will engage in discussions with Milei regarding “the way forward between Israel and Gaza.” Argentina has the largest Jewish population in South America and Milei was recently in Israel, with which he has sought closer ties.
