Brazil blocks Venezuela & Nicaragua from BRICS 'partnership'

 

One year ago Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva stated that he supported Venezuela's membership in BRICS. See the video with him saying so here

Fast forward to the recent BRICS+ conference in Kazan, Russia.  At that meeting Brazil surprisingly vetoed the ascension of Venezuela and Nicaragua toward the first step in BRICS membership - to be approved as BRICS 'partners'.

What happened?

Strategic Culture Foundation reports:

Lula has made several recent moves toward a policy of deep friendship with the West. Cutting ties with Nicaragua, not recognizing Maduro’s [re-election] victory, and condemning the Russian special military operation in Ukraine were just some of these moves. More recently, Lula even suggested that he would disapprove of Venezuela’s candidacy for the BRICS, which shows how aligned he is with Western interests, acting irresponsibly in the emerging nations forum.

On the one hand, it is possible to say that Lula has “changed”, since he is clearly no longer the same energetic leader in favor of emerging countries who won the sympathy of the people during his first terms. However, on a deeper analysis, it is also possible to say that he remains the “same”: a multi-lateralist without any deep geopolitical ambitions – and, therefore, uninterested in the creation of a multi-polar world.

Lula is aligned with a way of thinking typical of the so-called “Global South” in the early 2000s, when expectations of “change” on the world stage were limited to cooperation projects to combat poverty, expand economic multi-lateralism and achieve joint development among emerging countries. At the time, there was no hope of changing the geopolitical arena and the global balance of power, except to create a multi-lateral order with relations between states being measured by international organizations.

Lula is still tied to this type of thinking typical of the 2000s. He has not been able to properly understand recent events and the profound changes in the structures of world geopolitics. Therefore, Brazil under his government has not yet understood the real nature of the BRICS and continues to think of the bloc along the lines of the projects of the bankers of Goldman Sachs. This naivety and ignorance explain why Lula gives little or no value to the BRICS [recent] Summit.

Venezuela interpreted the veto as a continuation of the far-right foreign policy of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. “The Brazilian foreign ministry has decided to maintain the veto that [past president] Jair Bolsonaro imposed on Venezuela for years, reproducing the hatred, exclusion, and intolerance promoted by Western centers of power,” said Venezuela’s foreign ministry.

President Putin expressed opposition to Brazil’s decision and called for further dialogue between Lula and Maduro. “We understand Brazil’s position, but we disagree. Venezuela is fighting for its survival. I know President Lula; he is a very decent and honest man. I’m sure he’ll address the situation from that standpoint. He asked me to speak with Maduro, and I hope the situation can be resolved,” stated the Russian president.

In 2025 BRICS will be lead and hosted by Brazil as the chairmanship shifts each year to a different member country. There is growing concern that Lula has been side-tracked (or bought off) by the US. If this is true then the west now has a Trojan Horse inside of BRICS. If this is true then 2025 could prove to be a tough year for the Global South movement to create an alternative to the western control of the global economy via the World Bank, the IMF and the petro-dollar.

It's no surprise that the west will do everything possible to crash the BRICS.  Saudi Arabia has been invited to join the group, but has not yet taken up membership. Likely due to enormous pressure from the US and the UK.

It's really sad that Lula has obviously taken a dive on behalf of the globalists. By doing so he turns his back on the poor of his own country and those throughout the Global South. 

We should all keep an eye on this situation and warn others about Brazil's back-tracking.

Bruce