South American Presidents: Summit in Brasilia (Imagine the sound of a balloon going poooofff)

When I first reported on this, the conclusion was “We hope Lula can bring focus to this discussion. It remains to be seen if this is a summit for a summit’s sake, or a talk shop. It truly is a mix of Western stooges and countries looking for multipolarity.”

It seems the South American Presidents found it more productive to complain about Nicholas Maduro, than to consider unity on their continent.  This one was not even interesting enough for my favorite journalists to say much.

Yet, Maduro stayed on topic and on track. For Maduro to have made a trip to Brazil was brave. He is wanted everywhere. He spoke inside of the meetings, but had no press involvement otherwise.

In Brasilia, President @NicolasMaduro insisted on advancing towards a new stage in South American integration based on respect and unity in diversity. pic.twitter.com/qwAJNaB1uo

— Kawsachun News (@KawsachunNews) May 31, 2023

Lula da Silva pushed hard for an alternative currency as a unit of account, unity against imperialism and revival of UNASUR.  He condemned the brutal Venezuelan sanctions and said that it is high time that the world accepts that Nicholas Maduro is a fairly elected President.

The difference between Western stooges and Latin American multipolaristas was a dividing factor, too difficult to overcome. The Western stooges came with instructions from their leaders to destabilize.  (As a joking matter, I expected to see Zelensky fly in and gatecrash any moment).

So in terms of press, we have this as example, in this case, talking about Chile:

The prestigious Brazilian journalist Breno Altman tweeted that Gabriel Boric’s attitude at the South American Presidents’ Retreat was “intractable and pusillanimous. He aligned himself with the right wing against Venezuela and publicly criticized President Lula for his speech against imperialist narratives, to be applauded and used by the reactionary press in Brazil.” I add, for my part: he aligned himself with Lacalle Pou, the most rancid of the Uruguayan oligarchy. Not much, is it? His only gesture of rebelliousness was to wear a gray suit and no tie … We expected something more than that.

El prestigioso periodista brasileño Breno Altman
tuiteó que la actitud de Gabriel Boric en el retiro de presidentes sudamericanos fue "intragable y pusilánime. Se alineó con la derecha contra Venezuela y criticó públicamente al presidente Lula por su discurso contra las… pic.twitter.com/9chJF08jtn

— Atilio Boron (@atilioboron) May 31, 2023

For once, and on the surface of it, I can agree with the Council on Foreign Affairs excepting for the fact that they started beating the democracy drum.

South America’s Minimum Consensus on Democracy is Gone

Bloomberg had it partly right as well:  Venezuela’s Maduro Visits Brazil in a Blow to US Strategy of Isolation

Sorry Lula, this balloon popped under the weight of freedumb and dumbocracy.   There was not much talk about Peru, under a coup government, or Ecuador where the right-wing dictator dissolved parliament and is leading the country by his own decrees.   This summit served as grist for the mill of the hegemon and not as unifying influence.  The major take-home was indeed that Maduro came to visit Brazil.   

(Btw, US soldiers are arriving in Peru today as the Peruvians are adamant that they need an election and will not bow before the coup government.  I hope for no violence.  A Peruvian friend managed to get her mother out).