Brazil: Independence and industrial power
SAO PAOLO—When it comes to unearned hype, the only thing that can arguably best compete against Bitcoin is the BRICS: namely, the power grouping composed of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, and, thanks to expansion in recent years, half a dozen other emerging powers across the postcolonial world. Two decades into its conception, the BRICS has failed to produce either its own currency or even a semblance of a robust defense network—the hallmarks of any serious alliance. Amid the most consequential conflict of our era, the grouping ignominiously failed to even issue a joint statement weeks into the ongoing Persian Gulf War, even if one of its members, Iran, was at the receiving end of thousands of airstrikes by two nuclear-armed Western powers.
The BRICS’ deafening silence, of course, is not only an upshot of shallow institutionalization, but worse, of profound geopolitical fault lines. India, which relies heavily on Israeli defense technology, was in no position to criticize the attacks on Iran. As for Russia, it is relishing a conflict that has raised its oil revenues, waived key United States sanctions, and boosted defense exports. Not to mention, it has been providing intelligence inputs that have aided Iran’s targeting of the American network of bases across the Persian Gulf.
Positioning itself as a responsible rising superpower, China has adopted a more nuanced and self-serving position by simultaneously nudging the antagonists toward negotiation, criticizing attacks on Gulf sheikhdoms and threats to the steady flow of commercial vessels through critical chokepoints, such as the Strait of Hormuz, as well as aiding Tehran’s war against America.
Under the progressive presidency of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Brazil has taken a remarkably principled and proactive position. A biofuel and food superpower, Brazil has been relatively cushioned from the worst impact of the ongoing war. The South American juggernaut has turned that geo-economic cushion into moral leadership. Brazil quickly expressed grave concerns about the joint US-Israeli assault on Iran by emphasizing how “the attacks occurred amid a negotiation process between the parties, which is the only viable path to peace.”
During last week’s gathering of global progressive leaders in Spain, Lula heavily criticized US President Donald Trump’s constant threats against the civilian foundations of Iran. In an interview with El País newspaper, he decried: “Trump has no right to wake up in the morning and threaten a country.”
Far from a naïve activist, however, the Brazilian leader has also called on Global South nations to become more self-reliant and militarily capable lest they fall victim to superpower predation. Having weathered multiple geopolitical storms in recent years, including massive tariffs by the Trump administration, the Lula administration is committed to enhancing the country’s defense capabilities. Recently, Brazil’s leader giddily unveiled the country’s first domestically-produced F-39E Gripen fighter jet.
“In South America, we present ourselves as a region of peace. No one has a nuclear bomb, no one has an atomic bomb. So we think of defense as deterrence,” Lula declared, introducing his own version of ”peace through strength” foreign policy not long after the US abducted Venezuela’s head of state. As if that weren’t enough, the Brazilian leader also pushed for greater military cooperation among Global South powers, most notably South Africa, which has also been a staunch supporter of the Palestinian cause and a vocal critic of the Iran War.
“[I]f we don’t prepare ourselves in terms of defense, one day someone will invade us,” the Brazilian leader counseled his South African counterpart, Cyril Ramaphosa, ahead of a major meeting between the two countries’ defense officials. “We need to combine our potential … We don’t need to keep buying from foreign arms suppliers,” he added. Lula’s global posture is built on strong foundations, namely Brazil’s massive industrial base. Producing millions of cars annually and boasting the largest manufacturing sector in Latin America, the country’s diversified and modern economy has not only produced a large middle class and labor force, which has undergirded the ruling Partido dos Trabalhadores voter base, but is now also well-positioned to support a powerful military. The lesson for other emerging powers, such as the Philippines, is clear: if we want to have a truly independent foreign policy, and to more effectively protect our sovereign rights in the West Philippine Sea, we should bolster our domestic manufacturing capacity. This means not only better jobs, as industrialization feeds domestic defense production, but also enhancing our national security. Otherwise, we will be at the mercy of predatory powers.
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richard.heydarian@inquirer.net
