Imperialist Brazil

benfell

Imperialism

Russia

Ukraine


Fig. 1. “Destroyed Russian military vehicles located on the main street Khreshchatyk are seen as part of the celebration of the Independence Day of Ukraine in Kyiv, August 24.” Photograph by Gleb Garanich for Reuters, August 24, 2022,[1] fair use.

It appears that Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is using the Ukraine war to advance his own agenda of restructuring world governance. He echoes the aggressor’s propaganda in doing so. This is, of course, to observe that the United States and the west, generally, have far from clean hands when it comes to imperialism.[2] Tharoor has pointed to one example, Iraq, previously,[3] but the Brazilian case rather sees the U.S. accurately as a serial imperialist.[4]

Ukraine, however, is far from responsible for U.S. imperialism. Brazil’s approach to Russian aggression effectively embraces[5] the “tankie” view that the west is evil and that anyone who opposes the west must therefore be good,[6] and on the pretense of seeking peace, that Russian imperialism is just fine.[7] It’s worth observing that Russia and China, whom Lula da Silva has reached out to, also have permanent seats on the admittedly pathetic United Nations Security Council,[8] where permanent seats are reserved for imperialists, and have deployed their power there every bit as cynically as the west. Brazil, apparently with Russian support, covets such a seat,[9] which we may now presume it would use in the very same way.

Critics have argued that Brazil’s position aims to avoid confronting a key supplier of fertilizer for its soybean plantations, exports from which are largely destined for China. Both Russia and China hold permanent seats on the U.N. Security Council, and Brazil for decades has sought to join them. Lavrov told reporters on Monday that Russia is backing Brazil’s bid.[10]

There would indeed be value in seeking a non-imperialist world order. But this is clearly not what Lula da Silva is doing.

Naiara Galarraga Gortázar, “Russian foreign minister’s meeting with Brazilian President Lula rankles the West,” El País, April 18, 2023, https://english.elpais.com/international/2023-04-18/russian-foreign-ministers-meeting-with-brazilian-president-lula-rankles-the-west.html

Ishaan Tharoor, “Brazil’s Lula reaches out to China and Russia, stoking U.S. unease,” Washington Post, April 19, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com//world/2023/04/19/brazil-china-russia-lula-multipolar/

Gilead

Donald Trump

Coup attempt


Fig. 1. “Jake Angeli (Qanon Shaman), seen holding a Qanon sign at the intersection of Bell Rd and 75th Ave in Peoria, Arizona, on 2020 October 15.” Photography by TheUnseen011101 [pseud.], October 15, 2020, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

[Rupert] Murdoch told Fox News chief Suzanne Scott on Jan. 5, 2021 — the eve of [Donald] Trump’s rally on the Mall in Washington, and the riots on the Capitol — that Fox’s prime-time anchors — Hannity, Carlson and Laura Ingraham — could announce “something like ‘the election is over and Joe Biden won,’ ” Murdoch reportedly said, noting that “would go a long way to stop the Trump myth” that the election was stolen.

Instead, Scott told a lieutenant: “I told Rupert that privately they are all there — we need to be careful about using the shows and pissing off the viewers but they know how to navigate.”[11]

Erin Mulvaney, Isabella Simonetti, and Joe Flint, “Fox News Defamation Trial Delayed Amid Network’s Push to Settle Dispute,” Wall Street Journal, April 17, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/articles/fox-news-dominion-prepare-for-battle-in-1-6-billion-defamation-trial-fad2e9a6

Jeremy W. Peters and Katie Robertson, “Fox Disputes Possible Damages as Judge Delays Defamation Trial,” New York Times, April 17, 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/17/business/fox-dominion-trial-delay.html

David Bauder, Randall Chase, and Geoff Mulvihill, “Lawsuit against Fox for false election claims heads to trial,” Associated Press, April 18, 2023, https://apnews.com/article/fox-news-dominion-lawsuit-trial-trump-2020-0ac71f75acfacc52ea80b3e747fb0afe

Meg James, “Fox News-Dominion settlement doesn’t end crisis for Rupert Murdoch’s empire,” Los Angeles Times, April 18, 2023, https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2023-04-18/fox-news-dominion-settlement-fallout-rupert-murdochs-empire

Erin Mulvaney, Joe Flint, and Isabella Simonetti, “Fox to Pay $787.5 Million to Settle Dominion’s Defamation Lawsuit,” Wall Street Journal, April 18, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/articles/fox-news-dominion-defamation-trial-set-to-begin-d5c7293a

Jose Pagliery, “Trump’s Fake Georgia Electors Are Now Ratting on Each Other,” Daily Beast, April 18, 2023, https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-fake-georgia-electors-are-now-ratting-on-each-other

  1. [1]Reuters, “Ukraine puts destroyed Russian tanks on display in Kyiv,” August 25, 2022, https://www.reuters.com/news/picture/ukraine-puts-destroyed-russian-tanks-on-idUSRTSALV9Q↩
  2. [2]Ishaan Tharoor, “Brazil’s Lula reaches out to China and Russia, stoking U.S. unease,” Washington Post, April 19, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com//world/2023/04/19/brazil-china-russia-lula-multipolar/↩
  3. [3]Ishaan Tharoor, “20 years later, U.S. invasion of Iraq hangs over war in Ukraine,” Washington Post, March 17, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com//world/2023/03/17/iraq-invasion-ukraine-history-shadow/↩
  4. [4]Ishaan Tharoor, “Brazil’s Lula reaches out to China and Russia, stoking U.S. unease,” Washington Post, April 19, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com//world/2023/04/19/brazil-china-russia-lula-multipolar/↩
  5. [5]Naiara Galarraga Gortázar, “Russian foreign minister’s meeting with Brazilian President Lula rankles the West,” El País, April 18, 2023, https://english.elpais.com/international/2023-04-18/russian-foreign-ministers-meeting-with-brazilian-president-lula-rankles-the-west.html; Ishaan Tharoor, “Brazil’s Lula reaches out to China and Russia, stoking U.S. unease,” Washington Post, April 19, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com//world/2023/04/19/brazil-china-russia-lula-multipolar/↩
  6. [6]Roane Carey, “Don’t Be a Tankie: How the Left Should Respond to Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine,” Intercept, March 1, 2022, https://theintercept.com/2022/03/01/ukraine-russia-leftists-tankie/↩
  7. [7]David Benfell, “Because, somehow, Russian imperialism is okay,” Not Housebroken, October 19, 2022, https://disunitedstates.org/2022/10/19/because-somehow-russian-imperialism-is-okay/↩
  8. [8]Ishaan Tharoor, “Brazil’s Lula reaches out to China and Russia, stoking U.S. unease,” Washington Post, April 19, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com//world/2023/04/19/brazil-china-russia-lula-multipolar/↩
  9. [9]Naiara Galarraga Gortázar, “Russian foreign minister’s meeting with Brazilian President Lula rankles the West,” El País, April 18, 2023, https://english.elpais.com/international/2023-04-18/russian-foreign-ministers-meeting-with-brazilian-president-lula-rankles-the-west.html↩
  10. [10]Naiara Galarraga Gortázar, “Russian foreign minister’s meeting with Brazilian President Lula rankles the West,” El País, April 18, 2023, https://english.elpais.com/international/2023-04-18/russian-foreign-ministers-meeting-with-brazilian-president-lula-rankles-the-west.html↩
  11. [11]Meg James, “Fox News-Dominion settlement doesn’t end crisis for Rupert Murdoch’s empire,” Los Angeles Times, April 18, 2023, https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2023-04-18/fox-news-dominion-settlement-fallout-rupert-murdochs-empire↩

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