Lula calls for South American unity

Eleven of continent’s 12 heads of state visit Brasilia for first summit in a decade

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called for South American unity yesterday as he welcomed fellow leaders for a “retreat” to strengthen ties in a region where left-wing governments are back in style.

Eleven of the continent’s 12 heads of state attended the summit in Brasilia, the first of its kind in nearly a decade, which Lula said turned the page on an era of divisions.

“We let ideology divide us and interrupt our efforts to integrate. We abandoned our channels of dialogue and our mechanisms of cooperation, and we all lost because of it,” the veteran leftist, who returned to power in January after defeating far-right expresident Jair Bolsonaro, said in his opening remarks.

The only South American head of state absent was Peruvian President Dina Boluarte, who was represented by cabinet chief Alberto Otarola.

We let ideology divide us and interrupt our efforts to integrate. We abandoned our channels of dialogue and our mechanisms of cooperation, and we all lost because of it.”

Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva | Brazil’s President

Lula kicked things off by meeting with Venezuelan counterpart Nicolas Maduro, restoring a relationship that had been severed under Bolsonaro.

Return of the ‘pink tide’?

This is the first summit of regional leaders since 2014 in Quito, Ecuador, at a gathering of UNASUR, a continental bloc launched in 2008 by Lula and late Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez. That was the moment of Latin America’s so-called ‘pink tide’, when a wave of left-wing governments led the region.

Now, some political analysts are talking of a “new pink tide” in South America, with the recent elections of Lula, Boric and Petro.

Lula’s government has touted projects such as a Bi-Oceanic Corridor, a transportation artery to enable countries to ship goods across the continent overland instead of by sea.

Lula kicked things off Monday by meeting with Venezuelan counterpart Nicolas Maduro — Chavez’s hand-picked successor — restoring a relationship that had been severed under Bolsonaro, who labelled the socialist leader a “dictator”.

“Groundbreaking visions” for South America’s future are unlikely to emerge from the summit, said international relations specialist Oliver Stuenkel. But “the meeting itself is good news,” he wrote in Americas Quarterly.

Resetting foreign policy

Since Lula defeated Bolsonaro in a divisive election to return to office in January, he has been overhauling Brazil’s foreign policy, vowing to seek friendly relations across the board and cultivating closer ties with partners as disparate as China and US President Joe Biden’s administration.

But he has drawn attacks from opponents of being overly cozy with Russia, China and Latin American leftists such as Maduro and Nicaragua’s Daniel Ortega.