Germán Van de Velde, October 28th 2024
The recent actions of the President of Brazil at the XVI Summit of the BRICS bloc, held in the Russian city of Kazan, reveal a real aggression from rulers who call themselves revolutionary against the pillar Peoples of the socialist Revolution in America.
There have been several occasions when Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has aligned himself with the imperialist interests of the United States government. Just this year, he was complicit in the failed coup attempt against President Nicolás Maduro after the presidential elections held on July 28, 2024. On that occasion, he did not recognize the results of Venezuela’s Supreme Electoral Council, which declared Nicolás Maduro the winner1. In response, the government of Nicaragua supported the legitimate government of Venezuela and strongly criticized the current President of Brazil's attitude.
“The way you have behaved, Lula, in the face of the victory of the legitimate President of Venezuela, is a shameful way, repeating the slogans of the Yankees, of the Europeans, of the servile governments of Latin America. You are also crawling, Lula! You are crawling, Lula!” (Commander Daniel Ortega at the XI ALBA-TCP Summit).
In his latest act of flirtation, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva joined the imperial aggression by vetoing Venezuela’s accession process to the emerging BRICS group. Through this action, which contradicts the nature and postulates of BRICS, the Brazilian Foreign Ministry decided to reproduce the hatred, exclusion, and intolerance promoted by the Western centers of power to prevent Venezuela from joining this organization for now. This constitutes an aggression and a hostile gesture against Venezuela, adding to the criminal policy of aggression imposed against this country.
Both Nicaragua and Venezuela, historically attacked by the United States government, seek emerging economies that guarantee stability through multilateral relations, from a perspective of Genuine Cooperation.
It seems that the President of Brazil has forgotten that the Government of Venezuela2 and the Sandinista National Liberation Front of Nicaragua stood in solidarity with his cause when he was politically attacked. The Sandinista Front recognized the escalation of arbitrariness against revolutionary political leaders in the region3. Nicaragua also condemned the failed coup attempt against President Lula in Brazil4.
Anti-imperialism is a key factor in the unity of thought and action of the new man and woman. There is a political identification, a sentiment, a value that places the Peoples in the decolonizing battles. Anti-imperialism can only be recognized if the historical struggle of our Peoples is known. Without militant anti-imperialism and without the unity advocated since the times of Bolívar, Martí, and Sandino, there will be no liberation process that triumphs in our lands.
Those who beg, flatter, or account to Yankee imperialism, the most ferocious and inhumane in history, deserve no respect and only the greatest contempt. In this sense, it is unforgivable and despicable that “personalities” of Greater Homeland serve the interests of the United States government or kneel in one way or another, as many have done and continue to do today. The weak and the puppets of the “Monster” will end up, as always, in the garbage bin of history.
We may agree or disagree with the way of governing in different countries of the region, but we cannot interfere in the internal affairs of other countries and ideologically back down in the anti-imperialist struggle of our Peoples. Those who fall into that ideological error cannot be called revolutionaries.
“(...) we are here in the very jaws of imperialism, with our mouth always open, which reminds one of the mouth of a tiger, with fangs and all, or the mouth of a shark, and we are already getting closer, or we have already surpassed (...) years of Revolution in the mouth of the monster. And the monster tries – and continues to try – to create problems for us, to create difficulties for us, to intensify its blockade, for how long? No one knows. But we know how to resist the monster in any variant, whether it tries to swallow us...” (Commander Fidel Castro5)
Notes
1 Lula no reconoce la victoria del presidente Maduro ni de la oposición en Venezuela https://www.pagina12.com.ar/763802-lula-no-reconoce-la-victoria-de-maduro-ni-de-la-oposicion-en
2 Venezuela se solidariza con Lula tras decisión política y antijurídica del Tribunal de Brasil https://www.pt.org.br/blog-secretarias/venezuela-se-solidariza-con-lula-tras-decision-politica-y-antijuridica-del-tribunal-de-brasil/?=https://pt.org.br/2016/03/
3 FSLN se solidariza con Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva https://www.tortillaconsal.com/tortilla/node/824
4 Gobierno de Nicaragua condena intento de golpe de Estado en Brasil https://archivo.prensa-latina.cu/2023/01/08/gobierno-de-nicaragua-condena-intento-de-golpe-de-estado-en-brasil
5 Nos sigue convocando el Fidel antimperialista https://www.granma.cu/cuba/2023-08-11/nos-sigue-convocando-fidel-antimperialista-11-08-2023-21-08-36