Opinion: Brazil’s president is on the wrong side of history

The president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, is an enemy of democracy.

He calls for repeat elections in Venezuela, calls Israel genocidal and supports Vladimir Putin’s brutality against Ukraine. There are all reprehensible acts, especially coming from the current president of the G20 and the largest democracy in Latin America.

Lula is on the side of Hamas. The Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement condemning the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, one of the most wanted terrorists globally and a leading figure of Hamas. The statement pointed out that “acts of violence, under any motivation, do not contribute to the pursuit of lasting stability and peace in the Middle East.”

Lula is a friend and defender of the Ayatollah regime in Iran . During the inauguration of Persian President Masoud Pezeshkian, the vice president of Brazil, Geraldo Alckmin, celebrated 120 years of bilateral relations with Tehran. The vice president sat smiling in the front row alongside representatives of Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah.

The Brazilian president has been declared persona non grata in Israel after comparing Israel’s self-defense efforts to the Holocaust caused by Hitler. “He has crossed a red line,” said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who noted that “Israel is fighting to defend itself and ensure its future until total victory.”

During his recent visit in Africa, the Brazilian head of state took the opportunity to compare the war in Gaza with the Holocaust suffered by 6 million Jews — an aberrant and anti-Semitic analogy. The causes, numbers and lethality of both events are not even remotely comparable. This type of approach reinforces a dangerous anti-Jewish narrative and adds pain to the nation victim of Hamas attacks.

Lula is also an admirer and defender of Vladimir Putin, asking Ukraine to surrender its sovereignty and hand over its homeland to the Russian aggressor. The United States has criticized this position as a mere repetition of Russian propaganda, and Europe reproached him for putting the attacked and the aggressor on an equal footing.

Additionally, the Brazilian president has said that he would like to invite Putin to the G20 Summit in Rio, despite the fact that the International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for his war crimes against Ukrainian children.

Brazil has disrespect the sovereignty of the Venezuelan people and has called for fresh elections to favor the dictatorial regime. Lula has asked that, given the electoral defeat of Nicolás Maduro, the elections must be repeated, despite the difference of 30 percentage points received by president-elect Edmundo González.

The United Nations and Amnesty International have documented Maduro’s crimes against humanity. Despite this dark record, Lula maintains its friendship with the tyrant and remains in silence over 2,000 political prisoners , nearly 8 million exiled citizens, torture centers and the hunting of political rivals under the “knock-knock” operation.

Other regrettable acts of Lula’s foreign policy include his support for the modern slavery of Cuban doctors, the tyranny of dictator Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua and the totalitarian regime of Xi Jinping in China.

The largest democracy of Latin America needs to review and reject its support for worldwide tyrants. Brazil must defend once again the patriotic ideals of its flag, which calls for order and progress. Lula da Silva should leave his ideology behind and exalt instead the values of freedom, justice and human rights. As the Brazilian anthem says , be a vivid ray of love and hope for Latin America and beyond.

Arturo McFields Yescas is an exiled journalist, former ambassador to the Organization of American States and former member of the Norwegian Peace Corps.

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