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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BRASILIA 002011 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/05/2017 
TAGS: PREL BR
SUBJECT: BRAZIL: LULA TOUTS FOREIGN POLICY INDEPENDENCE 
FROM US, EUROPE 
 
Classified By: CLASSIFIED BY DEPUTY CHIEF OF MISSION PHIL CHICOLA FOR R 
EASONS 1.4 B AND D 
 
¶1. (C) Summary.  During a speech on 1 October Brazilian 
President Lula touted the independent trajectory of his 
foreign policy, and criticized his predecessor's as 
intellectually submissive and overly oriented towards the 
United States and Europe.  Brazilian foreign policy observers 
suggest the speech was intended as red meat for his leftist 
base meant to mark clear breaks from Western interests at a 
time when Lula may be perceived as aligning too closely with 
developed countries.  While true, these remarks also express 
what appears to be Lula's personal philosophy of Brazilian 
foreign policy, and make clear that he buys into the 
direction that his deputies are taking it.  End summary. 
 
---------------------------------- 
Always Campaigning Within His Base 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (U) According to Folha de Sao Paulo, during a speech he 
gave on Monday, 1 October, President Lula affirmed that prior 
to his arrival in office, Brazilian foreign policy had been 
characterized by intellectual subordination and oriented 
towards the United States and Europe.  According to Lula, 
even after gaining independence in 1822, the country 
continued to be colonized.  This colonial mindset and 
intellectual submission, Lula went on, is what motivates 
criticisms of his foreign policy, which he claims greatly 
increased its focus on Latin America and Africa.  In fact, 
Lula stressed that relations with South American countries 
have never been better.  In addition, contrary to previous 
administrations, Brazil's relations with Africa are now built 
on respect and tenderness.  "If we can," Lula proclaimed, "we 
will help, because Africans have helped us for 400 years, and 
I think it is fair to give back a little." 
 
¶3. (C) In a conversation with Poloff, Paulo Sotero, of the 
Brazil Institute at the Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars, 
remarked that by outlining the narrative of a leftist-tilting 
foreign policy, whether mythical or otherwise, Lula can 
construct a legacy that he can use to remain influential 
within his base beyond his presidency, while at the same time 
placating a base that did not expect him to be as 
economically orthodox as he has been.  Recent forceful 
statements defending Iran against Western pressure, asserting 
sovereignty against foreign interests in the Amazon region, 
and the statements made in his most recent speech, Sotero 
noted, can be seen through this prism. 
 
¶4. (C) Sotero also intimated that Lula's comments regarding 
the continued colonization of Brazil reflect a genuine 
mindset--felt by not just Lula, but by Deputy Foreign 
Minister Samuel Pinheiros Guimaraes, and to a lesser extent 
Foreign Minister Celso Amorim--that is highly sensitive to 
perceived personal slights and defensive about Brazil not 
being considered an equal in the world stage. 
 
-------------------- 
Break from the Past? 
-------------------- 
 
¶5. (C) The one aspect where Lula's foreign policy and 
rhetoric represents a real break from the past, Sotero noted, 
is on Africa.  Although there has always been an orientation 
towards Africa, Lula,s efforts there (multiple trips, 
opening of new embassies, development projects, the 
India-Brazil-South Africa Forum) and his rhetoric about 
helping the continent, reflect a sensibility that is mirrored 
within his base and, according to Sotero, helped get him 
elected.  Elites in Brazil, Sotero believes, fail to 
understand how much of a driving factor this is for Lula. 
 
---------------------- 
Comment: It's Personal 
---------------------- 
 
¶6. (C) Lula's remarks regarding the direction of Brazil's 
foreign policy undoubtedly played well with his leftist base. 
 When taken together with previous statements and actions, 
however, they must also be seen as reflecting a personal 
 
BRASILIA 00002011  002 OF 002 
 
 
philosophy with regard to foreign policy.  Lula's pragmatic 
side understands the value of maintaining good working 
relationships with the major first-world powers, as evidenced 
by recent travels to Europe and the United States.  At the 
same time, his political ideology drives him to seek 
opportunities to contrast Brazil with the "colonizers" and 
expand South-South relationships.  Despite their reputation 
as self-styled protectors of Brazilian sovereignty, many 
Brazilian diplomats are chafing at the aggressive way in 
which Lula's senior deputies (Special Advisor Garcia, Foreign 
Minister Amorim, and Deputy FM Guimaraes) are implementing 
and giving further definition to Lula's left-leaning 
international agenda.  But Lula's words and deeds make clear 
that he buys into the direction his deputies are taking 
Brazil's foreign policy. 
 
SOBEL