A Brazilian Government Document Shows Failure and Criticizes Foreign Policy

06/01/2017 - 12h59

Brazil needs a "major strategy," the country's foreign policy failed during the FHC, Lula and Rousseff administrations and it is only an "isolated agenda" in Michel Temer's current administration.

This has occurred because there is a "systemic failure" caused by its foreign policy designers, and diplomats' complaint that the area is not a priority or does not have enough resources is used to "defend its role" - after all "they work so that foreign policy continues out of the larger political debates."

This harsh criticism is part of the text "Brazil, a country searching for a major strategy," produced by the Strategic Affairs of the Presidency - the document will be released on Thursday, June 1.

Its authors, secretary Hussein Kalout and his associate, Marcos Degaut, are pointed as those responsible for the evaluation and do not spare their boss.

"The Temer administration decided to concentrate its efforts on a type of presidential diplomacy directed to consolidate the legitimacy of the new administration and reassure investors."

The failure of the Lula and Rousseff administrations to criticize human rights violations in Venezuela during the Hugo Chavez administration or the conflict between Russia and the Ukraine, in addition to other remarkable omissions (Saudi Arabian actions in Yemen, the civil war in Syria) are also highlighted in the document.

Commercial issues are scrutinized and the obligatoriness to negotiate commercial agreements with Mercosur is seen as an "anchor." Mercosur's performance in the sector, with three insignificant agreements (signed with Egypt, the Palestine and Israel) is compared to those signed by Chile (a total of 20 agreements, including with China, Europe and the U.S.).

Translated by THOMAS MUELLO

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