In April, Mike Coté wrote an exemplary piece for National Review detailing the ties between Brazil’s then-new president Lula da Silva and authoritarian leaders around the world. In particular, he noted Lula’s support for authoritarians in Central and South America, writing that “Lula has engaged positively with local dictators, sending a delegation to meet with Maduro in Venezuela and signaling his support for the abusive Ortega regime in Nicaragua.”
Over the weekend, Lula deepened another one of those ties. On Monday, Lula met with Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro ahead of a conference of South American leaders in Brasilia. During their joint press conference, Lula slammed U.S. sanctions against Venezuela and defended Maduro as a lawful president. He also agreed with Maduro’s request to join the BRICS organization, presumably in an effort to bolster Brazil’s influence in the group.
The meeting stands as yet more proof that Lula should not be looked on favorably by the United States. He has increasingly shown himself to be staunchly anti-American, despite what the American Left might say. Coté put it best in his original piece:
These relationships with anti-American authoritarians are a shot across the bow of the U.S.-led world order, and a blatantly obvious one at that. Lula’s domestic actions have only further undermined the Biden administration’s sunny rhetoric. This was always going to be the fate of a Lula regime, something that was eminently clear if one removed the partisan blinders.
His predictions are quickly coming true. The future of the U.S. position in South America will depend on whether President Biden can overcome his ideological blinders. In the meantime, Lula will continue to defy American prerogatives and defend dictators like Maduro.