Lula violates the constitution and subjects Brazil to dictatorships that violate human rights

(Interamerican Institute for Democracy) In less than six months as President and head of Brazil’s Foreign Affairs, Luis Ignacio Lula da Silva violates the norms and breaches the obligations established by his country’s Constitution, subjecting and subordinating Brazil and its Foreign Affairs Policy to dictatorships who wield power through State-terrorism, crimes against humanity, torture, and political exiles.

The Constitution of the Federative Republic of Brazil establishes in its Article One that Brazil “is constituted as a Democratic State of Law and has, as its legal foundations: 1. Sovereignty; 2. Citizenry; 3. The dignity of the human being; 4. The social values of work and the free enterprise; 5. The political plurality.” Article Four of the Constitution mandates “In its foreign affairs, the Federative Republic of Brazil is governed by the following principles: 1. National Independence; 2. The prevalence of human rights; 3. The self-determination of the Peoples; 4. Non-Intervention; 5. The equality of all states; 6. The defense of peace; 7. The peaceful solution of conflicts; 8. The rejection of terrorism and racism; 9. The cooperation between the peoples seeking progress for humanity; 10. The granting of political asylum.”

Foreign Affairs Policy is defined as “the set of decisions and actions that comprise the public policy the government of a State makes and takes to protect the welfare of its citizens and to represent their national interests in regard to others countries and is subject to international law.”

For decades, Brazil’s Foreign Affairs Ministry has formulated the State’s foreign affairs doctrine and policy asserting that “Brazil’s Foreign Affairs Policy reflects its role as a regional power, and potentially world power, and is designed to help protect its national interests, national security, ideological objectives and the country’s economic prosperity.” Absurdly, however, what Lula does is to subject Brazil’s “national independence” to the interests of the dictatorships from Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia, Nicaragua, China, Russia, and Iran. . .

This brief summarized framework makes very clear Lula’s violations of the Constitution and his actions to subject Brazil under dictatorships who violate “the dignity of the human being, the free enterprise, the political plurality” as mandated by Article 1 of said Constitution. By subjecting Brazil to foreign interests, Lula engages in an attempt against its “national independence” and violates Brazil’s constitutional mandate to have “the prevalence of human rights” and “the self-determination of the peoples” and the State’s “non-intervention” as well as the mandated rejection of terrorism and racism” as ordained by Article 4 of Brazil’s Constitution.

The re-establishment of relations with Venezuela’s dictatorship, announced before Lula was sworn-in, the reception of Venezuela’s dictator Nicolas Maduro as a Head of State at the meeting of South American presidents attempting to reactivate 21st Century Socialism’s apparatus and the shameful naming as a “narrative” all crimes against humanity, torture, the uprooting of over 7 million Venezuelans, the assassinations, the existence of political prisoners, narcotics’ trafficking, the turning of countries into narco-States are crimes committed by Maduro and his Castrochavist transnational organized crime group.

These actions on behalf of Brazil, are driven by Lula’s subjection to Cuba, the Dictatorship-In-Chief of the dictatorial system of the Americas. In his first term in office, Lula contracted “slaved physicians” from the Cuban regime. As corroborated by reports from the United Nations that also involved the Pan-American Health Organization, this was -plain and simple- slavery and human trafficking. To date, neither the issue of human trafficking by the Cuban regime, nor the “lava jato” scandals have been resolved, these have been swept under the rug and the culprits are still unpunished at least in Cuba, Venezuela, and Bolivia.

Cuba and Venezuela are Brazil’s credit debtors and have defaulted. Venezuela’s debt is registered as $682 million Dollars and Cuba’s as $227 million Dollars. Back in February of 2023, Lula blamed his predecessor Jair Bolsonaro and stated “I trust the dictatorships from Venezuela and Cuba will pay their debt with Brazil,” something that has not happened or has not been reported.

Now, Lula is involved to protect Nicaragua’s dictatorship at the 53rd General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS) that will take place from 21 to 23 of June in Washington D.C. He uses Brazil’s Foreign Affairs Policy attempting to “sugar-coat a critical resolution condemning Daniel Ortega’s regime in Nicaragua for repression and violations of human rights.” INFOBAE has reported that delegations from five States had drafted a proposal and that “the government of Brazil sent an alternative text that lowers the tune, removes some criticism to the dictatorship … and adds mitigating conditions to some of the serious acts that take place …”

In April, Lula while visiting China; aligned Brazil with Russia’s invasion to Ukraine, fostered a greater rapprochement with Iran, accused the United States and Europe regarding Russia’s invasion, affirmed that “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China’s territory,” proposed to conform a worldwide group of dictatorships against democracy. Not only did all of Lula’s actions generate repudiation but they also confirmed his violation to “national independence,” the “peoples’ self-determination,” “non-intervention,” concepts of Brazil’s Constitution and confirmed Brazil’s subjection to the dictatorships.

*Attorney & Political Scientist. Director of the Interamerican Institute for Democracy.

Translation from Spanish by Edgar L. Terrazas