Brazil Welcomes Iranian Warships

 Brazil shows something out of history lessons.

"The arrival of two Iranian warships in Brazil on Sunday is unsettling for democracies in the Western hemisphere. Worse is that the Biden Administration seems to have been complicit in trying to bury the news.

According to press reports, on Jan. 13 the government of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio "Lula" da Silva granted permission for the ships to dock at a port in the state of Rio de Janeiro later that month. Under normal circumstances a decision to support military exercises by a sworn U.S. enemy would have sent a diplomatic chill across the two continents. But in this case President Biden's domestic political agenda trumped security in the Americas.

On Jan. 8 an anti-government mob had stormed and destroyed federal buildings in Brasilia, claiming that the October election that brought Lula back for a third term had been stolen from former President Jair Bolsonaro. Mr. Bolsonaro resembles Donald Trump in many ways and Mr. Biden spied a political opening. The next day he reached out in solidarity with Lula by inviting him to visit Washington sometime in February to discuss "a wide-ranging shared agenda."

But the Iranian ships weren't a good fit for a Biden plan to showcase the new Brazilian government as a model of democracy. On Feb. 9 Reuters reported that Brazil had bowed to U.S. pressure to delay the ships' arrival in the South American country -- but not to stop the visit. The new authorization dates were "between Feb. 26 and March 3, Brazil's foreign ministry said," according to Reuters.

In other words, to avoid the embarrassing optics of the warships of a repressive theocracy cruising into a Brazilian port while Mr. Biden heaped praise on the guy who invited them, the two sides arranged a work-around. Put off the docking until after the D.C. tour.

During Lula's visit at the Oval Office, Mr. Biden cheerfully extolled "the rule of law, freedom and equality," which he described as "core principles we both believe in" and boasted about "our mutual agendas." Too bad those mutual agendas don't include unity of purpose to protect regional security from a rogue regime that spreads terrorism around the world." [1]

1. Brazil Welcomes Iranian Warships
Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]. 01 Mar 2023: A.16.