What unites Lula to Biden and Bolsonaro to Trump
Because of the similarities between the political scenarios in Brazil and the United States, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s brief visit to Joe Biden this Friday is very likely to succeed. It is a strategic occasion for Messrs. Biden and Lula to maintain the vigilance that hangs over both democracies in relation to their predecessors and possible successors.Driven by fake news, a large part of public opinion in both countries is contesting the election results that have distanced both countries from the extreme right. While Mr. Biden had his 1/6, Mr. Lula had his 1/8, pointing out that democracy in both countries is not immune to risks.The link between extremism in both countries is clear, and it is no coincidence that former President Jair Bolsonaro is 155 miles from Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago hideaway and the electoral home of the far right’s new hope, Florida Governor Ron De Sanctis.The flow is one, the culture wars are the same. If the fight against abortion is an axis for conservatism in the United States, it becomes an axis here. Religious fundamentalism, pandemic denialism, anti-intellectualism, disbelief in climate change, nothing is missing. The political struggle in Brazil and the United States has become an existential drama in which the fate of institutionalism is being played out in an election.It is domestic politics, above all, that fuels Messrs. Biden and Lula’s mutual interest in a good meeting. South America itself is of little interest to the U.S. According to Rubem Barbosa, who served as Brazil’s ambassador to Washington during the Cardoso administration, "Latin America is important to the United States today only because of the immigration issue, which primarily affects Mexico and Central America. South America is not even among the top fifteen foreign policy priorities." But building a common discourse on democracy and human rights against right-wing extremism is of great interest to both presidents.In the case of Brazil, the invasion of the halls of power in January 8 has undoubtedly strengthened Mr. Lula politically. The defense of democracy is a lever for the Brazilian president to expand his base of support in society without lowering the tone of his left-wing rhetoric. The White House’s position on the 2022 electoral process was a deterrent to a clearer coup attempt that would have prevented the outcome of Mr. Lula’s victory. Mr. Biden recognized the result minutes after Mr. Lula’s triumph was announced, and...
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