Brazilian Leader Seeks Deeper Beijing Links

"SAO PAULO -- Brazil's leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing on Friday -- a state visit that officials said would tackle topics including satellites to monitor the Amazon rainforest and a proposal for ending the conflict in Ukraine.

Mr. da Silva's trip comes as the standard-bearer of Latin America's left seeks to boost his nation's influence abroad after relative isolation under his nationalist predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro.

The meeting marks a deepening of Brazil's relationship with its largest trading partner, officials and Chinese scholars said, as Beijing aims to counter what it sees as U.S.-led efforts to suppress the Asian nation diplomatically and economically.

Some 20 bilateral deals are expected to be signed during the four-day trip, according to the Brazilian government.

"China is an essential partner today for Brazil and for Latin America," said Mr. da Silva in a radio interview before departing, vowing to revive a relationship that he said was stifled under his right-wing predecessor. "Brazil has to once again become a protagonist on the global stage,"said Mr. da Silva,who served as president from 2003 to 2010.

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman has depicted the visit as an opportunity to "inject more positive energy into promoting unity and cooperation among developing countries."

Mr. da Silva told journalists this month that he planned to encourage China to join what has been nicknamed a "peace club" of nations in the global south, including India and Indonesia, to mediate an end the conflict in Ukraine.

The conflict has taken a heavy toll on the Latin American country, hampering critical supplies of Russian fertilizer to Brazil's farms, raising food prices and threatening to hinder Brazil's ability to meet China's demand for commodities. Brazil, the world's largest producer of coffee, soybeans and sugar, imports about 85% of its fertilizers, with a fifth of those typically from Russia.

Mr. Xi, who has a close relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, has said he favors talks to end the conflict. Mr. da Silva's attempt to resolve the conflict is a long shot at best, analysts said.

"Lula likes to play a personal role in great power politics . . . but I don't think he will get very far," said Rubens Ricupero, a prominent former Brazilian diplomat. Such mediation efforts by a group of countries often fail, he said, because diverging opinions and interests make it difficult to "conduct the negotiations in a resolute way with a unity of purpose."" [1]

Who knows? Diplomacy is an art of possible. Zelensky is out of rockets, according to recent American intelligence leak. This makes some negotiations possible.

1. World News: Brazilian Leader Seeks Deeper Beijing Links
Pearson, Samantha; Austin Ramzy.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]. 14 Apr 2023: A.16.