The recent meeting between President Obama and Brazilian President Rousseff exemplified the reasons the Administration has amassed critics of its foreign affairs goals and conduct.
Downplaying the traditional priorities of allying with governments that either (or both) advance U.S. interests or share similar governmental structures, the current White House has concentrated on issues such as climate change, and seeking to open up relations with nations that America had become estranged from, in most cases, for very legitimate reasons.
Part of the groundswell of dismay arises from statements that do not match American goals, or facts-in-being.
In recent remarks at a joint press conference with Brazilian President Rousseff, a socialist who has worked with Marxist guerillas, President Obama stated:
“I very much appreciate President Rousseff and Brazil’s strong support for our new opening toward Cuba…we’re working to deepen our defense cooperation. Under President Rousseff’s leadership, two important agreements were approved by Brazil’s Congress last week and are now in effect. Going forward, it will be easier for our two militaries to train together, to share more information and technology, and to cooperate during missions such as disaster response and peacekeeping.”
The fact is, Brazil’s foreign policy is not moving in a direction favorable to the United States, despite any window dressing. As noted by Latin America Goes Global,
“The predominant strain today in Brazilian foreign policy, however, runs counter to Washington’s traditional vision of leading a liberal international order in which the United States remains primus inter pares. Brazil’s aspiration to lead the Global South toward a more multipolar system, that gained predominance under President Luis Inâcio Lula da Silva, is evident across a wide range of issues. From its increasingly close alignment with Russia and China in the BRICS group to its drive to create multiple regional organizations that exclude the U.S., Brazil is charting its own course of strategic autonomy that is often designed to counterbalance U.S. leadership in the world…
“It has also sided with Russia in its grab of Crimea by standing on the sidelines despite Moscow’s gross violation of international law, a principle Brazil holds dear. And it has said little about the ongoing human rights abuses in ideologically allied countries like Venezuela and Cuba or economic partners like China.”
President Obama also stated that Brazil is “working… to uphold democracy and human rights across Latin America….I believe that Brazil’s leadership in the region, as well as its own journey to democracy and a market economy can make it an important partner as we work to create more opportunities and prosperity for the Cuban people.”
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What are the facts? President Rousseff has been in office since January of 2011. Despite that, according to Amnestyusa,
“Degrading labor conditions persisted across Brazil. In May, the UN Special Rapporteur on ‘contemporary forms of slavery’ visited Brazil…. She urged the federal authorities to pass a constitutional amendment that would allow for the expropriation of land where forced labor is used. The amendment, which was proposed in 1999, remained stalled in Congress at the end of the year. By the end of the year the National Program for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders had expanded its operations to six states. However, inconsistent funding and a lack of co-ordination between state and federal authorities meant that many human rights defenders included in the program remained without protection.”
Human Rights Watch also describes a less than free nation. According to the Brazilian Association of Investigative Journalism, state security forces injured or detained 178 journalists who covered demonstrations in various parts of the country in the year leading up to the 2014 World Cup. A federal access to information law went into effect in 2012; a majority of states have since passed implementing legislation. The law establishes that the public should have unfettered access to information regarding violations of fundamental rights. Brazil took an important step by enacting the Brazilian Digital Bill of Rights in April 2014. The Bill of Rights includes protection for the right to privacy and free expression online, and serves to reinforce application of the rule of law in the digital sphere. The law establishes Brazilian support for net neutrality as a guiding principle for future Internet developments. It has yet to be implemented.”
The United Nations remains critical as well. A UNESCO study notes “Despite considerable and innovative work in promoting human rights, Brazil still has some challenges: there is no expressive understanding of the universality and indivisibility of civil, political, social, economic and cultural rights. There is still a large number of people who continue to encounter major difficulties in exercising their citizenship and their basic rights.”